IAIN  LISRAKY-AGRICULI  U«£.  DEPT 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •    BOSTON  •     CHICAGO   •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


The 

Romance  of  Everifarm 


BY 


HARVEY  J.  SCONCE 


gorfe 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1922 

All  rtghtt  reserved 


PRINTED  IN   THE  UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


COPYRIGHT,  1922, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  printed.     Published  October,   1922. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

As  you  step  from  your  front  porch  into  the  radi- 
ance of  a  perfect  spring  morning,  you  come 
face  to  face  with  a  great  group  of  folk,  which  is 
overlooked  by  the  majority  of  us,  as  human  beings. 
Yet  each  has  his  distinct  personality,  with  a  real 
mission  in  life,  and  can  always  be  found  working  at 
his  job. 

In  the  rush  and  hurry  of  this  world,  we  overlook 
many  of  these  friends  who  mean  so  much  to  us,  and 
it  is  the  purpose  of  this  little  volume  to  introduce 
the  folk  of  the  great  out-of-doors  to  the  American 
Boy  and  Girl;  to  the  busy  man  of  the  city  who  has 
little  opportunity  to  know  them;  to  the  man  in  the 
shops,  in  the  factories  and  mines,  who  would  wel- 
come a  day  in  the  country  to  make  their  acquaint- 
ance; and  to  the  American  farmer,  who,  while  he 
works  among  these  folk  constantly,  has  never  taken 
the  time  to  recognize  them  as  his  friends. 

In  the  distance  is  heard  the  booming  of  the  Prai- 
rie Chicken.  Bob  White  on  a  near  by  fencepost,  is 

v 

498676 


vi  PREFACE 

informing  the  enemies  of  the  grain  fields,  that  he  is 
on  police  duty  for  the  day.  Cock  Robin  hops  briskly 
across  the  lawn  to  pick  up  a  caterpillar,  hurrying  to 
his  breakfast  of  leaves  on  Prairie  Rose,  who  waves 
"good  morning"  to  you,  as  you  pass  along.  The  big 
black  spider's  web,  finished  just  the  day  before, 
hangs  like  gossamer,  resplendent  in  the  morning 
dew,  as  it  stretches  from  the  Sumac  to  the  Alder 
bushes,  and  the  Spider  himself  cannily  lies  in  wait  for 
the  coming  of  the  big  blue  flies. 

Peter  Rabbit,  in  his  morning  jaunt,  pulls  up  on 
his  haunches,  and  pertly  asks  the  big  white  mush- 
room how  he  happened  to  get  there  so  suddenly. 
Hopps,  the  Toad,  is  blinking  in  the  sunlight,  watch- 
ing a  Butterfly,  as  he  circles  around  the  Weigela 
bush,  competing  with  Honey  Bee  and  Bumble  Buz- 
zer for  the  early  morning  nectar. 

You  question,  How  did  all  this  happen?  Does  it 
affect  me  and  my  industry,  and  how?  Are  all  these 
folk  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  humanity?  Are 
they  a  part  of  the  Great  Divine  Plan? 

They  must  be.  The  great  Oak's  leaves  rustle 
understandingly,  wisely,  in  the  morning  breeze.  The 
Pussy  Willow  acquiesces  in  this  opinion,  as  the  Car- 
dinal, most  beautiful  of  red  birds,  swings  on  one  of 
the  swaying  branches,  and  proclaims  to  the  world 


PREFACE  vii 

that  he  is  of  royal  birth  and  has  a  real  purpose  in 
life. 

Each  with  his  definite  goal  in  view,  and  task  to 
fulfill  is  essential  to  the  comfort  of  the  human  race, 
and  without  most  of  them,  we  would  perish.  If 
this  book  induces  you  to  become  friends  with  them, 
then  it  will  have  fulfilled  its  mission. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.    A  SUMMER  IN  A  CLOVER  FIELD 11 

II.    HAPPY   JACK    SQUIRREL 19 

III.  THE  ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN 30 

IV.  MARTIN  AND   His   BIRD   FRIENDS    .......  43 

V.    PRAIRIE    ROSE 56 

VI.  THE  HACKKERRY  TREE  TELLS  His  STORY 66 

VII.  THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL 81 

VIII.  FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS 91 

IX.  THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  AN  APPLE  BLOSSOM 109 

X.  COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK 117 

XI.  JIM  CROW 133 

XII.  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE  ....  147 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Bob  White.    The  Policeman  of  the  Farm     .     .     .      Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Happy  Jack  Squirrel  Having  Lunch 24 

Jack  Shifts  the  Blame  for  the  Robbery 25 

Winter  Quarters   for  Corn   Kernel 30 

The  Aristocrats  of  Their  Race 31 

Hand  Pollination  of  the  Best  Individuals 42 

A  Perfect  Hill  of  Corn 43 

Martin  Resting  After  His  Long  Journey 46 

The  Night  Watchman  and  the  Garden  Policeman  ....  47 

Humming  Bird  in  Action 56 

Wild  Flowers  Amid  the  Silence  of  the  Forest 57 

Prairie  Rose  in  His  New  Home 66 

The  Big  Hackberry  in  the  Lonesome  Road 67 

At  Christmas  Time 76 

The  Big  Hackberry  with  His  New  Friends 77 

It  Was  Hard  Life  for  Old  Dobbin  in  the  Old  Days     ...  84 

The  Big  Tractors  Do  It  Easier  Now 85 

"And  He  Asked  Me  if  I  Had  Ever  Seen  Snow"     ....  94 

Mallard  Duck— Contented  but  Suspicious 95 

Mallard  Duck  Goes  to  His  Feeding  Grounds 104 

Jerry  Muskrat's  Home 105 

The  View  from  Jim  Crow's  Front  Door 134 

The  Robber  and  the  Gold 135 

The  Big  Party 146 

The  Villain  of  the  Wheat  and  the  Corn  Fields 147 

xi 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Where  the  Villain  was  First  Discovered 150 

The  Results  of  His  Work     .     .     .     .     .     .   '.-.     >     V    .     .     151 

His  Winter  Home       .     ....     .     .     .     .     .     ..    .     •     154 

His  Various  Disguises ".155 

His    Victims 160 

The  Battle  Ground •     •     161 

All  photographs  by  the  author. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 


A  SUMMER  IN  A  CLOVER  FIELD 


first  story  of  this  volume  tells  of  the  life 
history  of  Red  Clover  who,  as  a  small  seed, 
with  millions  of  others,  was  sown  with  the  spring 
wheat  in  one  of  Farmer  Good's  big  fields.  The 
clover  was  sown  in  this  field  because,  by  analysis,  it 
had  been  discovered  that  the  soil  was  lacking  in 
nitrogen,  and  Farmer  Good  knew  that  the  clover 
plant  was  the  fellow  who  could  supply  this  most 
necessary  element  of  plant  food.  The  tiny  clover 
seed,  coming  in  contact  with  the  moisture  of  the 
soil,  soon  germinated,  and  at  once  sent  down  two 
tap  roots  to  gather  the  moisture  and  the  plant  food 
which  was  to  build  the  plant  that  would  eventually 
restore  the  fertility  to  the  big  farm.  The  heavy 
freeze  of  April  was  quite  disastrous  to  several  of  the 
young  plants,  but  this  seed,  being  well  covered  and 
having  gained  a  good  start,  survived  along  with  the 
great  majority.  Owing  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
wheat  and  the  crowding  of  enemy  weeds,  such  as 

plantain,  ribbon  grass,  foxtail,  and  others,  the  growth 

ll 


12  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

of  clover  was  somewhat  slow.  However,  as  soon  as 
the  wheat  was  harvested,  with  the  sunlight  and 
warm  days  following  and  with  gentle  showers, 
progress  was  much  more  rapid.  The  primary  stems 
began  to  produce  a  rosette  of  leaves  from  whose 
axils  ten  leafy  branches  were  sent  out.  Early  in  the 
summer  tubercles  appeared  on  the  roots  and  the 
work  of  gathering  nitrogen  from  the  air  began. 

A  short  time  after  the  wheat  was  harvested, 
Farmer  Good  turned  his  shorthorn  steers  in  the  field 
to  eat  the  clover.  One  of  these  steers  was  a  par- 
ticularly fancy  animal,  a  beautiful  roan  shorthorn 
that  was  being  fitted  for  the  International  Live- 
Stock  Exposition.  He  was  enjoying  himself  very 
much  as  he  picked  off  the  young  clover,  coming 
closer  all  the  while  to  the  place  where  our  subject, 
the  clover  plant,  was  now  making  such  rapid  growth. 
It  was  nearly  midday  and  as  Strawberry  Prince,  the 
big  roan  steer,  had  eaten  so  much  that  his  sleek  hide 
was  as  tight  as  a  drum,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  rest,  so 
selecting  a  favorable  spot  he  lay  down,  his  shapely 
head  just  a  few  inches  from  our  clover  plant,  who, 
after  looking  him  over  for  a  few  moments,  ex- 
claimed: 

"My!  My!  But  you  are  the  biggest  thing  I  ever 
saw.  How  many  of  us  does  it  take  to  fill  you  up?" 


A  SUMMER  IN  A  CLOVER  FIELD  13 

Looking  down,  the  big  steer  noticed  the  anxious 
look  on  Clover's  face  and,  being  of  an  amiable  dis- 
position, he  cheerfully  said:  "I  usually  eat  about 
five  hundred  for  breakfast  and  the  same  amount  for 
dinner  in  the  evening,  but  always  rest  during  the 
middle  of  the  day.  You  see  when  I  nip  off  the  top  of 
the  clover  stems,  it  makes  it  branch  better,  and 
really  improves  it  for  next  year.  You  remarked 
about  my  size  a  moment  ago,"  continued  Prince. 
"Well,  you  are  responsible  for  that,  do  you  know 
it?  You  see,  Farmer  Good  buys  the  bone  meal  fer- 
tilizer to  get  the  phosphorus.  This  is  put  on  the 
land.  When  you  are  planted  your  roots  take  up  the 
phosphorus  and  I  come  along  and  nip  you  off,  and 
the  phosphorus  I  get  from  you  makes  bone  for  me 
to  build  on;  therefore,  the  more  clover  I  eat,  the 
better  bone  structure  I  shall  have.  Then  when  the 
cattle  are  sent  to  the  packing  houses  the  meat  is  sent 
back  to  Farmer  Good  for  his  family,  while  the 
bones  are  ground  into  more  fertilizer  to  put  on  the 
land,  so  that  you  clover  plants  can  make  a  better 
growth." 

"Funny  how  dependent  on  each  other  we  are,  isn't 
it?"  thoughtfully  mused  Clover. 

Just  then  Billy  Bee  came  along  and  stopped  to 
rest  on  the  horn  of  the  big  steer. 


14  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"Pardon  me  if  I  am  a  bit  heavy,  Mr.  Steer,  but 
I  just  had  to  stop  and  rest,"  apologized  Billy  Bee. 

"Oh!  That's  all  right.  If  you  hadn't  spoken,  I 
wouldn't  have  known  you  were  there,"  wearily  re- 
plied Prince. 

"Ho,  hum!  That's  a  good  one,"  cried  Clover. 
"Some  folks  have  a  good  opinion  of  themselves,  don't 
they?  What  are  you  doing  out  here  in  this  clover 
field  anyway?  Don't  you  know  that  you  can't  get 
honey  from  us?  It  takes  Old  Bumble  Buzzer  to  bore 
for  honey  here.  You  had  better  buzz  along  over  to 
the  other  field,  where  my  cousin  White  Clover  is. 
He  is  more  of  your  size,"  advised  Clover. 

So  without  more  comment  Billy  Bee  buzzed  away. 
His  departure  did  not  awaken  or  in  the  least  disturb 
Prince,  who  had  now  fallen  fast  asleep. 

Many  days  of  this  kind  followed.  As  the  autumn 
days  arrived,  the  translocation  of  starches  from  the 
stems  and  leaves  of  the  plant  to  the  roots  began  to 
take  place.  Clover  was  preparing  for  winter,  and 
sure  enough,  one  night  a  great  white  blanket  of  snow 
fell  all  over  the  big  farm.  Clover  fell  fast  asleep,  and 
did  not  awaken  until  one  day  in  the  spring,  when 
he  felt  a  slight  commotion  and  opening  his  eyes  he 
looked  up,  and  there  was  Reddy  Fox  just  digging 
away  for  all  he  was  worth,  preparing  a  home  for  him- 


A  SUMMER  IN  A  CLOVER  FIELD  15 

self  and  his  lady  love,  who  sat  off  at  one  side  watch- 
ing proceedings.  Reddy  would  come  backing  out 
of  the  long  hole  in  the  ground  and  kick  the  dirt  all 
over  the  immediate  vicinity,  then  back  again  he 
would  go  and  drag  out  another  load  of  dirt.  It  was 
great  fun  to  see  Reddy  work  this  way,  and  Clover 
felt  that  he  was  going  to  have  an  interesting  neigh- 
bor for  the  summer. 

In  looking  around,  Clover  noticed  that  many  of 
his  brothers  had  been  killed  by  the  winter,  so  dur- 
ing the  coming  warm  days  they  all  tried  to  expand 
themselves  in  order  to  cover  the  ground  and  make 
up  the  loss.  Some  of  the  plants  had  been  killed  by 
the  clover-root  borer,  while  later  in  May  the  leaf 
weevil  ravaged  the  plants  and  destroyed  the  leaves. 
Then  in  July  and  August  the  grasshoppers  came  in 
thousands  to  feed  upon  the  plants  and  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  many  friends  of  Clover,  who  kept  con- 
trol over  the  enemies,  it  is  quite  doubtful  if  he 
would  have  survived. 

However,  Clover  came  through  the  early  spring 
in  good  shape,  escaping  many  of  the  enemies  that  at- 
tacked other  plants,  and  spent  many  interesting  days 
watching  the  Fox  family.  For  several  days  Lady  Fox 
was  not  to  be  seen,  and  Clover  began  to  wonder 
what  had  become  of  her,  when  one  morning,  as  the 


16  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

sun  was  shining  brightly,  she  came  out  of  the  den 
which  Reddy  had  dug  for  her,  down  deep  in  the 
ground,  and  following  her  were  five  little  foxes  with 
great  ears  and  tails.  At  every  little  noise  they  would 
rush  down  the  dark  passage-way  to  their  home,  until 
they  became  accustomed  to  their  new  surroundings 
in  the  big  field.  Every  morning  now  would  see 
Reddy  bring  a  duck,  a  chicken,  or  a  rabbit  for  Lady 
and  the  children  to  feed  upon.  Sometimes  a  young 
turkey  would  be  brought  in.  Then  one  morning 
Reddy  brought  in  Mrs.  Prairie  Chicken.  He  told 
Lady  Fox  that  he  had  surprised  her  on  her  nest, 
killing  her  before  she  could  escape.  How  the  foxes 
did  fight  over  her  out  there  among  the  clover  plants! 
All  this  time  Old  Bumble  Buzzer,  the  Bumble 
Bee,  had  been  building  her  nest  near  by,  and  now 
she  had  a  fine  brood  of  young  bees  that  had  been 
taught  the  art  of  taking  honey.  As  they  buzzed 
from  blossom  to  blossom  gathering  honey,  they  also 
carried  pollen  on  their  feet  from  one  blossom  to 
another  and  thus  fertilized  the  blooms  so  the  seed 
would  be  created.  Every  morning  Old  Bumble- 
Buzzer  would  get  the  children  up  early  and  say: 
"You  children  must  work  quickly,  as  it  is  necessary 
to  cover  all  the  blossoms  to-day,  because  Farmer 
Good  wants  a  fine  seed  crop  and  he  is  depending 
on  you  to  make  it." 


A  SUMMER  IN  A  CLOVER  FIELD  17 

So  one  morning,  while  the  foxes  were  fighting  over 
an  especially  fine  duck,  they  ran  over  Bumble  Buzz- 
er's nest,  disturbing  the  tranquillity  of  the  home 
by  tearing  a  portion  of  its  roof  off.  The  Buzzer 
family  came  out  in  force,  all  in  a  perfect  rage,  and 
launched  a  bayonet  attack  on  the  young  rascals. 
With  howls  of  torture  and  cries  of  anguish  the  foxes 
rushed  for  their  home,  where  they  told  Reddy  Fox 
all  about  the  Buzzer  family  being  so  rude,  but  old, 
wise  Reddy  just  smiled  and  advised  the  young  folks 
to  leave  the  Buzzer  family  alone,  as  they  did  not  be- 
long to  their  set  and  never  had  been  on  speaking 
terms  with  each  other. 

Clover  enjoyed  watching  all  these  incidents  very 
much  and  also  was  glad  to  learn  from  Meadow  Lark 
one  morning  that  Farmer  Good  was  going  to  leave 
this  portion  of  the  field  for  seed,  while  he  was  going 
to  cut  the  other  half  for  a  hay  crop.  On  account  of 
the  bumble  bees  being  so  early  to  nest  and  such 
great  numbers  of  them,  it  would  be  advisable  to  leave 
half  of  the  field  for  a  seed  crop,  also  take  a  seed  crop 
from  the  second  cutting  on  the  other  part  of  the  field 
later  in  the  summer.  Therefore,  Clover  notified  the 
roots  to  gather  plant  food  to  make  the  seeds.  It 
soon  had  on  each  of  its  many  stems  several  blooms 
which  were  filled  with  honey,  that  attracted  the 
members  of  the  Buzzer  family.  They  soon  brought 


18  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

pollen  from  other  blooms  and  fertilized  our  Clover 
perfectly,  until  every  young  seed  pod  was  aglow 
with  life  and  was  rapidly  being  developed  into  a 
beautiful  purple  or  yellow  seed.  One  day  after  the 
blooms  had  begun  to  fade  and  the  nights  were  get- 
ting cool  Old  Bumble  Buzzer  came  along  and  stopped 
on  the  clover  plant  to  see  if  the  work  had  been  well 
done. 

"Well,  old  friend,  our  work  is  about  over  for  this 
year,  isn't  it?"  cordially  exclaimed  Clover. 

"Yes.  My  family  are  about  all  gone,  now.  Soon 
you  will  be  mowed  down  and  threshed  to  be  planted 
somewhere  next  year.  I  have  located  an  abandoned 
mouse  nest  in  the  old  dead  cottonwood  stump  over 
by  the  fence,  and  as  Farmer  Good  is  going  to  put  you 
clover  seeds  in  that  field  next  year  it  will  be  just 
right  for  me  when  I  awaken  next  spring  to  come 
over  and  see  you,"  answered  Buzzer,  as  she  clumsily 
sailed  away  into  the  red  sunset  of  the  autumn  day. 

"Well,  good-by,  Buzzer.  Take  good  care  of  your- 
self this  winter  and  here's  hoping  we  shall  meet  over 
in  the  field  across  the  fence  next  year,"  Clover 
called  cheerily,  as  his  good  friend  buzzed  out  of 
sight. 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL 

rpHERE!  I'm  going  to  call  it  a  day,"  said 
Happy  Jack,  the  big  red  fox  squirrel,  one 
evening  in  October.  He  was  climbing  the  elm  tree 
for  the  hundredth  time  that  day  to  put  another 
walnut  into  his  storeroom,  increasing  the  supply 
of  nuts  and  acorns  for  his  use  during  the  coming  win- 
ter. He  had  been  a  very  busy  squirrel  the  past  few 
days.  The  early  frosts  had  ripened  the  acorns  on  the 
big  oak  tree  and  the  walnuts  in  the  grove  in  Farmer 
Good's  big  front  lawn,  while  across  the  road  the 
hickory  tree  had  been  yielding  up  its  harvest,  as 
the  autumn  winds,  shaking  the  branches,  had  loos- 
ened the  ripened  nuts  in  their  shells  and  sent  them 
rattling  to  the  ground  below. 

Happy  Jack  had  been  gathering  these  nuts  and 
acorns  for  several  days.  The  acorns  he  stored  in  a 
part  of  the  hollow  of  the  big  elm  that  was  best 
adapted  for  the  purpose,  while  most  of  the  walnuts 
were  buried  in  the  ground  near  the  base  of  the  tree. 
The  hickory  nuts  were  too  good  for  any  squirrel  to 
resist  eating  them  on  the  spot,  therefore  he  ate  all 

19 


20  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

he  could  hold  and  put  the  rest  within  easy  reach  in 
his  main  living  room  in  the  elm.  He  also  had  stored 
sweet  corn  kernels,  taken  from  Farmer  Good's  gar- 
den, and  he  felt  that  with  the  things  that  he  could 
pick  up  later  on  he  would  be  able  to  get  through  the 
winter  quite  well. 

As  his  autumn  work  was  over,  he  decided  to  visit 
around  and  call  on  some  of  his  friends  in  other  parts 
of  the  wood-lot  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  So 
the  next  day  he  climbed  up  the  big  oak  tree  just  by 
the  side  of  the  fence,  to  the  big  hollow  limb  which 
all  the  woods  folk  knew  to  be  the  home  of  Bobby 
Coon.  He  was  hardly  able  to  arouse  Bobby  from 
his  slumbers,  but  after  a  great  amount  of  rapping 
at  the  entrance  of  the  home,  and  a  lot  of  loud  talking, 
Bobby  got  his  eyes  open  enough  to  see  who  it  was. 

"Hello,  Jack!  You  surely  found  me  hard  to  waken, 
didn't  you?  I  was  out  late  last  night  and  .was  mak- 
ing up  for  lost  time.  Well,  Jack,  what's  on  your 
mind?"  queried  Bobby  Coon,  as  he  arose  and 
stretched  himself,  at  the  same  time  opening  his 
mouth  and  showing  a  fine  set  of  sharp  teeth,  when 
he  gave  a  most  satisfying  yawn. 

"I  just  ran  over  to  ask  you  what  the  boys  were 
doing  along  the  road  yesterday,"  answered  Jack. 

"Well,  from  up  here  I  just  couldn't  tell  what  they 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL  21 

were  doing,  but  from  their  actions  it  seemed  to  me 
as  if  they  were  planting  something.  If  you  will  go 
down  along  the  road  where  Prairie  Rose  and  Sumac 
are,  you  wiU  see  where  they  were  at  work,  but  as 
I  was  not  interested  I  didn't  pay  much  attention  to 
them/'  Bobby  concluded  wearily,  for  he  was  more 
interested  in  continuing  his  nap. 

"Guess  I  will  slip  over  and  see  just  what  they  were 
doing/7  said  Jack,  as  he  ran  down  the  tree. 

Soon  he  was  on  his  way  along  the  road  where 
Bobby  Coon  told  him  to  go.  Without  much  trouble 
he  found  the  fresh  spade  marks,  and  with  his  two 
stout  front  paws  he  soon  uncovered  a  nice,  juicy 
crocus  bulb.  He  had  never  seen  one  before,  but  as 
he  took  a  bite  of  it  he  declared  it  to  be  the  finest 
thing  imaginable,  so  he  began  to  dig  for  more,  and 
at  every  place  that  had  been  freshly  dug,  Jack 
found  from  one  to  three  crocus*  bulbs.  He  ate  all 
he  could  hold,  and  then  carried  quite  a  lot  of  them  to 
his  storehouse  in  the  big  elm. 

As  he  was  making  his  last  trip  back  to  the  crocus 
planting,  he  chanced  to  go  near  one  of  the. flower  beds 
and,  noticing.some  freshly  dug  places,  decided  to  con- 
tinue his  investigations.  So  again  he  dug  down  deep 
and  found  some  very  large  juicy  bulbs,  much  larger 
than  the  crocus,  which  he  took  great  delight  in  eat- 


22  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

ing.  These  bulbs  that  Farmer  Good  had  recently 
planted  were  the  celebrated  Darwin  tulips,  imported 
from  Holland,  and  as  they  were  in  abundance  Jack 
felt  very  sure  of  his  winter's  food  supply. 

One  day  when  he  was  very  much  absorbed  in 
digging  up  one  of  these  tulip  bulbs,  "Orang"  the  Aire- 
dale came  across  the  lawn  with  a  rush  and  just  barely 
missed  Jack  as  he  sprang  up  the  young  hackberry 
tree.  The  tree  was  quite  young,  being  only  ten  feet 
high,  so  Jack  was  just  able  to  get  out  of  reach.  He 
was  compelled  to  stay  up  there  most  of  the  forenoon, 
as  the  dog  kept  his  eye  on  him  constantly.  How- 
ever, Peter  Rabbit  ran  across  the  lawn,  attracting 
the  attention  of  the  Airedale,  and  while  Peter  was 
dodging  him  in  the  shrubbery,  Jack  climbed  down 
and  raced  for  his  home  in  the  elm.  During  the  au- 
tumn, Jack  had  many  such  experiences,  and  finally 
began  to  enjoy  them.  He  would  climb  up  only  a  few 
feet  on  the  trees  just  out  of  danger,  then  turn  around 
and  bark  at  the  Airedale,  calling  him  names  to 
make  him  excited,  affording  great  amusement  for 
Jack. 

One  morning  Jack  awoke  and,  looking  out  of  his 
front  door,  he  discovered  the  whole  world  below 
wrapped  in  a  great  white  blanket  of  snow.  As  it 
was  his  first  snow,  he  ran  anxiously  down  the  tree, 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL  23 

to  try  himself  out  in  the  making  of  trails  across  the 
spotless  white.  He  would  run  this  way,  then  that, 
then  stop  and  look  back,  to  see  how  many  tracks  he 
had  made.  It  was  great  fun,  but  after  running  for 
some  time  he  became  quite  tired,  and  as  he  had  not 
breakfasted  he  was  rather  hungry.  The  thought  of 
walnuts  and  tulips  came  to  his  mind  and  he  deter- 
mined to  get  his  breakfast  at  once.  So,  with  the 
unerring  accuracy  of  his  race,  he  ran  over  to  the 
spot  where  he  had  buried  his  walnuts,  and,  digging 
down  through  the  three-inch  snow  and  into  the 
ground,  he  at  once  located  the  buried  treasure. 
With  the  walnut  between  his  teeth  he  climbed  to 
the  first  limb  on  the  walnut  tree;  then,  with  his 
great  bushy  tail  curled  over  his  back,  while  the 
morning  sun  was  warming  the  big  cold  world,  he 
breakfasted  on  walnut  meats. 

There  were  days  during  the  winter  when  Jack  had 
to  depend  on  his  storehouse,  as  the  sleet  was  so 
heavy  or  the  ground  so  frozen  that  he  was  unable  to 
get  food  elsewhere.  Almost  all  the  woods  folk  were 
asleep  on  these  days.  The  birds  were  all  South  for 
the  winter,  with  the  exception  of  Bluey  the  jaybird, 
the  flickers,  Blackie  the  crow,  and  a  few  others; 
therefore  it  was  quite  lonesome  for  Jack.  He  liked 
the  snow  for  a  few  days  during  the  early  part  of  the 


24  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

winter,  but  now  he  was  getting  terribly  tired  of  it. 
He  wanted  to  see  spring  come,  to  hear  the  song  of 
the  birds,  and  have  the  green  leaves  on  the  trees, 
so  that  he  could  lie  out  on  the  swaying  branches 
during  the  warm  days,  and  be  lulled  to  sleep  in  the 
protecting  shade  by  the  gentle  breezes. 

Happy  Jack's  wish  was  soon  realized,  as  the  sun- 
shine drove  the  snows:  away,  and  brought  the  birds 
from  their  winter  resorts  in  the  South. 

"Hello,  Cock  Robin!  My,  I  am  glad  to  see  you!" 
chattered  Jack,  as  Cock  Robin  flew  up  into  the  big 
elm,  all  tired  out  after  his  long  flight  from  Alabama. 

"There  is  Diamond  Bluebird,  and  I  hear  Meadow 
Lark.  Spring  is  about  here.  I  have  been  terribly 
lonesome  without  you  boys.  It  seems  like  living  to 
have  you  all  back  again.  Have  you  selected  the 
location  for  your  house  this  spring?" 

"What's  that  to  you?  Don't  know  that  I  would 
tell  you  if  I  had,"  Cock  Robin  retorted  candidly. 
"I  am  rather  suspicious  of  you.  Blackbird  Jim  and 
Tom  the  catbird  are  telling  some  bad  tales  about  you. 
They  say  that  their  homes  were  broken  up  last 
summer,  and  the  evidence  of  their  friends  points  to 
you  as  the  home-wrecker,"  accusingly  concluded 
Cock  Robin. 

"Now  let  me  tell  you  something  that  will  put  an 


(Above)  Happy  Jack  having  lunch.    "I  wonder  who  is  calling.' 


'Keep  your  eyes  on  Slippery,"  said  Jack. 


The  day  before  the  robbery. 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL  25 

entirely  different  light  on  this  business,"  began  Jack, 
defensively,  "something  that  you  don't  know,  and 
no  one  else  for  that  matter.  Fact  is,  I  didn't  under- 
stand it  myself  until  you  mentioned  the  trouble. 
Blackbird  Jim  and  Tom  the  catbird  had  their  nests 
in  the  red  haw  tree  over  by  the  fence,  didn't  they?" 

"Yes,"  assented  Cock  Robin. 

"All  right,  and  the  young  ash  tree  leans  over  the 
fence  with  its  limbs  touching  those  of  the  haw  tree, 
doesn't  it?" 

"Yes,"  agreed  Cock  Robin. 

"Well,  one  warm  day  last  summer,  when  I  was 
lying  on  one  of  the  limbs  of  the  big  maple,  just  get- 
ting ready  to  take  a  nap  in  the  shade  of  my  sleep- 
ing porch,  I  happened  to  glance  down  and  whom  do 
you  suppose  I  saw  crawling  up  the  leaning  ash  tree? 
No  one  but  Slippery  the  black  snake.  He  crawled 
on  over  to  the  haw  tree.  Owing  to  the  leaves,  I 
couldn't  just  see  what  took  place,  but  in  a  short  time 
Slippery  returned  to  the  ground,  and  I  could  see  from 
his  appearance  that  he  had  filled  up  on  something. 
In  a  few  moments  Blackbird  Jim  returned  and  was 
making  a  terrible  fuss  about  something,  but  I  never 
learned  just  what  was  the  cause. 

"However,  I  am  not  saying  that  Slippery  broke 
up  the  nests,  but  I  would  advise  your  friends  to  be 


26  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

more  accurate  in  their  information  before  accusing 
me  of  such  things/'  concluded  Jack. 

"I  will  tell  them  as  soon  as  they  come  north  about 
this,  and  we  will  set  this  matter  right/'  said  Cock 
Robin,  as  he  hurried  over  to  the  freshly  plowed  gar- 
den to  get  a  mess  of  worms  for  his  dinner. 

"The  idea!"  mused  Jack  to  himself. 

However,  Jack  never  did  deny  the  charge,  but  he 
had  laid  the  blame  on  Slippery  in  such  a  subtle  man- 
ner that  it  was  accepted  by  his  accusers.  The  birds 
decided  later  that  they  would  keep  a  close  watch  on 
Slippery  during  the  summer  but,  nevertheless,  Jack 
would  come  in  for  his  share  of  attention. 

The  next  few  weeks  saw  the  big  lawn  begin  to 
bloom.  The  tulips,  crocuses,  and  jonquils  all  added 
their  bright  colors  to  that  of  the  green  grass,  all  the 
birds  had  now  arrived,  and  the  mornings  became  a 
great  festival  of  song.  About  this  time  the  big 
farm  welcomed  a  much  needed  rain.  It  commenced 
with  a  gentle  shower,  then  settled  into  a  general 
downpour. 

"This  is  just  the  day  I  have  been  looking  for," 
said  Jack  as  he  ran  down  to  the  ground. 

Moving  with  the  assurance  of  one  who  has  had 
his  program  in  mind  for  some  time,  Jack  ran  over  to 
the  old  walnut  tree  under  which  he  had  a  great  quan- 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL  27 

tity  of  nuts  buried  quite  shallow.  These  he  re- 
moved from  the  place  where  he  had  put  them  last 
November,  and,  carrying  them  one  by  one  out  into 
an  open  space  in  the  big  lawn,  he  dug  down  quite 
deep  with  his  strong  front  feet,  then  pushed  the 
walnut  down  into  the  wet  soil.  He  then  raked  the 
dirt  back  into  the  hole  and  stamped  it  down  hard, 
jumping  up  and  down  on  it  with  all  his  weight,  so 
that  it  would  hold  the  moisture;  then  he  carefully 
raked  all  the  dirt  into  the  hole,  and  lastly  covered 
it  with  leaves  and  grass,  completing  the  operation. 

During  all  this  work  he  had  been  holding  his  um- 
brella over  himself  by  curving  his  fluffy  tail  over  his 
back.  He  kept  the  rain  off  to  quite  an  extent,  but 
although  it  was  raining  quite  hard,  yet  it  did  not 
cause  him  to  cease  work  for  a  moment.  He  had  an 
important  job,  and  he  meant  to  do  it.  So  back  he 
would  go  to  the  walnut  tree  and  bring  another  wal- 
nut out  into  the  open  space  and  bury  it  in  the  same 
careful  manner. 

All  this  time  Bluey  the  jaybird  had  been  sitting 
in  the  hard  maple  tree  near  by,  watching  Jack  at 
his  work.  Finally,  his  curiosity  got  the  better  of 
him,  and  he  flew  down  on  the  lawn  near  Happy 
Jack. 

"Say,  Happy,  are  you  crazy?    Burying  walnuts 


28  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

out  here  in  the  rain  in  May!  Don't  you  know  that 
walnuts  are  not  good  now?"  advised  Bluey. 

"You  have  a  lot  to  learn  yet,  Bluey,"  said  Jack. 
"If  I  had  been  burying  these  walnuts  to  eat  later, 
I  would  not  have  put  them  so  deep  in  the  ground. 
However,  I  don't  ever  expect  to  get  any  benefit  from 
this  work.  I  am  not  storing  these  for  food,  I  am 
planting  for  future  generations. 

"There  is  a  rigid  law  handed  down  to  each  squir- 
rel generation  that  we  must  store  our  food  in  the 
fall.  The  part  we  do  not  eat  during  the  winter  must 
be  planted  in  the  spring  during  a  rain,  to  grow 
more  trees,  in  order  to  furnish  food  for  our  grand- 
children and  their  children.  Therefore,  I  am  only 
observing  the  law  of  our  race,  and  that's  more  than 
a  lot  of  people  do.  This  way  I  am  providing  for 
those  who  shall  come  after  me,"  concluded  Jack,  who 
had  not  stopped  work  during  the  explanatory  talk. 

"That  is  a  wonderful  idea,  Jack,  and  most  com- 
mendable. Makes  me  think  more  of  you  than  ever," 
said  Bluey  as  he  flew  back  to  the  hard  maple  to 
meditate  over  what  Jack  had  told  him. 

Jack  soon  concluded  his  work  and,  after  climbing 
the  young  red  elm  to  eat  some  of  the  new  buds 
that  were  quite  good  now,  he  decided  to  rest,  as  he 
had  fulfilled  his  obligation  to  his  race  for  the  per- 


HAPPY  JACK  SQUIRREL  29 

petuation  of  the  food  supply.  While  lying  there  in 
the  red  elm,  after  his  dinner  of  elm  buds,  he  fell  fast 
asleep  to  dream  of  the  days  to  come  when  the  Golden 
Bantam  Hybrid  sweet  corn  would  be  ripe  in  the 
big  garden,  and  just  waiting  for  a  tired  Happy  Jack 
Squirrel. 


THE  ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN 

T  TEY!  Quit  your  crowding,  stay  over  on  your 
own  row/'  complained  one  of  the  twelve  hun- 
dred beautiful  golden-yellow  kernels  of  a  high-grade 
ear  of  Reid  Yellow  Dent  corn  in  Farmer  Good's  big 
seed  house.  It  was  a  morning  in  January,  after  an 
especially  restless  night. 

This  fine  ear  of  corn  had  been  produced  in  Field 
No.  53.  of  Farmer  Good's  big  farm,  and  early  in 
October,  before  any  frosts  had  injured  the  seed,  he 
had  husked  this  ear  with  thousands  of  others  and 
placed  them  in  the  wire  racks  in  this  well-ventilated, 
furnace-heated  seed  house  to  remain  there  during 
the  winter.  As  the  moisture  evaporated  from  the 
cob  and  the  kernels  began  to  shrink,  the  cob  grew 
smaller  and  dryer,  so  that  the  kernels  of  the  ear  be- 
came very  tight  and  crowded.  This  caused  no  little 
discomfort,  and  was  the  direct  cause  of  the  com- 
plaint by  the  golden  kernel  on  this  January  morning. 

"Look  here,  young  fellow,"  spoke  up  a  well-in- 
formed neighbor  in  an  adjoining  rack,  "you  should 
be  thankful  that  you  have  such  good  health,  and 

30 


The  right   kind   of  individuals  insure   a   great   crop.     Breeding 
ears  of  corn. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  31 

that  you  are  on  a  solid  and  firm  ear,  which  denotes 
a  healthy  condition.  Just  look  at  the  poor  fellows 
on  that  rough,  long-kerneled  ear  in  the  rack  next  to 
you.  They  are  loose  on  the  cob,  and  have  a  lot  of 
room,  all  because  they  are  diseased,  and  they  will 
not  be  alive  by  the  time  the  planting  season  arrives. 
Just  you  wait  and  see  what  happens  to  the  two  of 
you  when  Farmer  Good  starts  to  select  seed  for 
his  fields,"  concluded  the  experienced  ear  near  by. 

About  this  time  Farmer  Good  came  into  the  seed 
house  and  began  to  get  the  corn-testing  machines 
ready.  The  arrangement  for  testing  the  seed  con- 
sisted of  a  large  tray  of  sawdust  on  which  a  cloth 
was  laid,  upon  which  the  kernels  of  corn  were  placed 
with  the  germ  up.  Then  another  heavier  cloth  was 
placed  on  top  of  the  kernels,  and  after  being  well 
moistened  with  warm  water,  the  trays  were  placed 
in  the  warm  air  of  the  germinating  room  with  the 
temperature  at  eighty  degrees.  The  other  machine 
was  a  moisture  tester,  consisting  of  several  trays  di- 
vided into  one  hundred  squares  for  the  kernels  of 
each  ear.  These  trays*  were  then  placed  in  an  in- 
cubator, where  a  damp,  warm  atmosphere  was  main- 
tained at  all  times. 

While  the  kernels  of  corn  on  the  ears  were  watch- 
ing the  proceedings  and  the  ears  themselves  were 


32  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

listening  to  what  Farmer  Good  was  telling  his  men, 
our  complaining  kernel  saw  Farmer  Good  come 
direct  to  his  wire  rack,  and  begin  taking  out  the  good 
sound  ears  and  placing  them  in  a  box.  As  soon  as  he 
came  to  the  rough,  loose  ear  he  threw  it  into  a 
basket  along  with  some  others,  and  the  boy  carried 
them  out  to  Porky  the  hog.  They  might  do  for  feed, 
but  as  seed  they  were  worthless.  When  Farmer 
Good  came  to  the  big,  strong,  healthy  ear  on  which 
our  complaining  friend  found  himself  that  morning, 
he  placed  him  in  the  box  at  once,  and  said: 

"There  is  an  ear  of  corn  that  will  make  a  record 
for  itself,  as  it  has  every  required  characteristic. 
We  will  remember  that  fellow,  for  his  number  is 
1548.  There  are  fifteen  generations  of  great  pro- 
ducers behind  him  and  this  fellow  is  one  of  the  best 
I  have  ever  seen." 

While  the  kernel  was  wondering  what  was  going 
to  happen  to  him  next,  Oldtimer,  one  of  the  best 
men  on  the  big  farm,  lifted  him  from  the  box  and 
with  a  knife  removed  ten  bright  kernels  from  the 
ear  and  placed  them  in  the  germinator  on  the  warm 
sawdust. 

"Gee!  what  a  relief,"  said  our  complaining  friend, 
as  the  adjoining  kernel  was  removed,  giving  him 
more  elbow  room. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  33 

He  soon  found  himself  reposing  in  another  rack, 
with  each  section  numbered  to  correspond  to  the 
numbers  on  the  germinator. 

After  an  interval  of  ten  days,  Oldtimer  came  back 
and  took  our  subject  out  of  the  rack,  after  Farmer 
Good  had  taken  careful  measurements  of  the  ear 
and  noted  in  a  big  record  book  all  its  characteristics, 
recording  as  well,  the  perfect  germination  of  the  ten 
kernels.  He  then  shelled  all  the  kernels  off  the  cob 
and  placed  them  in  a  small  paper  sack  with  the  num- 
ber 1632  on  it. 

"Well,  well!  Here  are  a  lot  of  my  brothers  I  have 
never  seen.  Where  have  you  been  all  the  time?" 
asked  our  yellow  kernel. 

"Why,  we  have  been  with  you  all  the  time,  but  we 
were  on  the  other  side  of  the  ear  from  you.  I  won- 
der where  we  go  from  here,"  said  a  timid,  golden- 
headed  youngster. 

His  question  was  soon  answered  by  Farmer  Good, 
who  took  the  box  with  all  the  other  ninety-nine  sacks 
of  kernels  which  were  to  be  planted  in  the  hundred- 
row  breeding  grounds  of  the  most  select  ears,  for  the 
future  crops  of  the  great  farm,  and  drove  out  to 
Field  No.  21.  Here  Oldtimer  had  his  planter  ready, 
and  the  ground  had  been  put  into  perfect  shape. 
First,  it  had  been  properly  fertilized  with  two  tons 


34  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

of  ground  limestone  to  the  acre,  and  then,  after  a 
clover  crop  had  been  grown  with  a  ton  of  rock  phos- 
phate applied,  the  clover  stubble  had  been  turned 
under,  and  this  beautiful  May  morning  found  the 
ground  just  radiating  health  and  vigor — just  the 
place  to  put  fine  seed  like  these  hundred  ears. 

Farmer  Good  then  put  No.  1  and  No.  2  sacks  of 
kernels  hi  the  planter  boxes  and  Oldtimer  started  off 
planting  across  the  field.  Turning  around  at  the 
other  end,  he  put  No.  3  and  No.  4  sacks  in  the  planter 
boxes  and  planted  them  in  rows  No.  3  and  No.  4,  re- 
turning. In  a  short  time  our  friends  in  1632  found 
themselves  all  in  the  planter  box  and  Oldtimer  plant- 
ing across  the  field  in  rows  No.  31  and  No.  32.  Just 
as  our  yellow  kernel  was  wondering  what  was  going 
to  happen  to  him,  he  felt  himself  rotating  around 
the  bottom  of  the  box,  and  then  he  fell  down  a  dark 
passage-way  with  two  other  brothers  into  the  dark, 
warm  soil  of  the  big  farm. 

"Well,  boys,  that  was  some  experience,  wasn't  it?" 
cried  our  friend  upon  recovering  himself.  "But  I 
believe  our  real  adventure  is  just  about  to  begin." 

"Oh!  this  is  the  warmest  and  most  comfy  place 
I  ever  saw/'  said  one  of  the  brothers.  "It  makes  a 
fellow  feel  like  taking  a  nap."  So,  following  the  sug- 
gestion, the  three  brothers  fell  fast  asleep  under  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  35 

comforting  influence  of  the  warm,  moist  bed  in  which 
they  had  been  placed. 

Under  such  conditions,  time  passes  very  rapidly, 
so  while  it  seemed  only  a  short  time  that  they  had 
been  asleep,  yet  several  days  had  elapsed,  the  mois- 
ture had  penetrated  the  endosperm  of  the  kernel,  and 
had  brought  to  life  the  embryo,  so  that  the  plumule, 
or  young  stalk,  had  pushed  its  head  up  through  the 
warm  soil  out  into  the  beautiful  sunlight  of  a  glori- 
ous May  morning.  The  primary  and  secondary 
roots  were  pushing  outward  and  downward  all  the 
while,  gathering  moisture  and  plant  food  to  nourish 
the  young  stalk,  that  was  now  taking  his  first  look  at 
a  beautiful  world.  He  turned  his  head,  and  there 
at  his  side,  just  emerging  from  under  a  small  particle 
of  soil,  were  his  two  brothers. 

"Hello,  boys!  Can  you  believe  it?  It  seems  only 
yesterday  we  were  in  that  old,  dark  seed  house,  and 
now  we  are  out  here  in  God's  sunlight,  a  place  just 
made  for  boys.  Oh,  look,  see!  What's  that  coming 
on  the  run?  Isn't  he  pretty?  See  him  get  that  bug. 
Hello,  Stranger,  who  are  you?" 

"Me?  Oh,  I  am  Bob  White  the  quail.  I  am  after 
some  bugs.  This  is  a  great  place  for  bugs,  and  many 
other  things,  which  you  will  find,  are  of  no  use 
hi  the  life  of  a  stalk  of  corn.  You  boys  just  out,  are 


36  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

you?  Haven't  met  any  of  the  folks  around  here, 
have  you?"  asked  Bob  White. 

"No.  You  are  the  first  one  that  has  called,"  an- 
swered one  of  the  brothers. 

"Well,  let  me  tell  you  about  some  of  these  fellows 
you  will  meet  later  on,  as  it  may  do  you  some  good. 

"Now,  I  have  a  friend  in  Prairie  Chicken,"  began 
Bob  White.  "He  scratches  around  terribly  some- 
times and  may  kick  dust  in  your  eyes,  but  he  won't 
harm  you.  Then  Peter  Rabbit  will  call  on  you,  but 
he  is  a  good  fellow  all  right.  He  will  be  around 
at  night,  while  Prairie  Chicken  and  I  will  get  around 
to  see  you  while  it  is  day.  Blue  Racer  the  snake  will 
crawl  up  to  you,  but  don't  pay  any  attention  to  him. 
He  won't  hurt  you,  but  I  have  to  watch  him,  so  that 
he  doesn't  find  my  nest.  But  I  do  want  to  warn  you 
about  Chuck  the  gopher.  He  likes  corn  better  than 
most  anything,  and  if  you  make  much  of  a  noise 
while  you  are  young  he  will  run  over  and  dig  you 
up.  Then  there  is  Jim  Crow,  who  will  fly  down, 
yank  you  out  by  the  roots,  and  gobble  you  up.  We 
all  hate  him,  as  he  is  the  worst  robber  on  the  big 
farm.  He  hunts  for  our  nests,  steals  our  eggs,  and 
also  pulls  up  the  corn  that  Farmer  Good  has  planted. 

"Now  I  came  over  here  to  get  a  mess  of  corn-bill 
bugs.  They  are  a  little  brownish  black  bug  with  a 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  37 

long  snout,  with  which  they  bite  holes  in  the  young 
stalks  to  get  the  plant  juice;  then  when  the  leaves 
open  up  later  on  they  are  full  of  parallel  holes  and 
the  plant  withers  and  dies.  Old  Chinch  Bug,  one 
of  your  worst  enemies,  is  a  dainty  morsel  for  me. 
He  is  quite  red  and  small  when  young,  but  as  he 
becomes  older,  he  turns  black,  and  has  a  white  cross 
on  his  back.  They  travel  in  armies  and  do  a  lot  of 
damage.  Then  you  will  make  the  acquaintance  of 
the  ant  and  his  cow,  the  corn  root  aphis.  The  ant 
stores  the  eggs  of  the  corn  root  aphis  over  winter, 
and  when  they  are  hatched  in  the  spring,  the  ant 
places  the  young  aphis  on  the  roots  of  the  grasses 
and  corn  plants.  The  aphis  sucks  the  juice  of  the 
young  plants  and  a  sweetish  fluid  is  excreted  upon 
which  the  ant  feeds.  You  see  it  virtually  gives  milk 
for  the  ant,  therefore  it  gets  the  name  of  the  ant's 
cow.  Then  there  is  the  corn-root  worm,  the  army 
worm,  and  a  lot  of  others  that  will  ruin  you  for  life 
if  they  happen  this  way,  but  Prairie  Chicken,  Cock 
Robin,  Meadow  Lark,  Blackbird  Jim,  and  some  of 
my  other  friends  and  I  will  try  to  keep  a  watch 
over  you,  and  in  a  few  days  I  will  have  a  fine  little 
family,  and  will  bring  them  over  for  a  visit. 

"But  I  especially  want  to  warn  you  against  old 
Cut  Worm.    A  brown  moth,  that  I  like  to  kill,  lays 


38  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

her  eggs  on  the  grass  blades  in  the  fall,  and  the  young 
larvae  that  are  hatched,  winter  over  in  the  ground. 
Then  when  you  young  stalks  of  corn  grow  in  the 
same  soil,  Cut  Worm  goes  to  work  on  you.  He  works 
mostly  at  night  when  you  are  asleep,  so  that  you 
won't  see  him,  and  he  just  bites  you  off  at  the  top  of 
the  ground.  However,  I  hope  you  won't  meet  any 
of  his  folks.  I  will  call  around  and  see  you  every 
day.  So  long,"  called  Bob  White,  as  he  ran  down  a 
row  of  corn  to  pick  up  a  stray  bug. 

"My,  my!  But  Bob  White  is  an  intelligent  fel- 
low, isn't  he?"  said  our  young  friend.  "He  knows 
nearly  everything,  and  is  not  stuck  up  about  it 
either." 

Just  at  this  point  the  younger  of  the  three  brothers 
noticed  a  brown  shape  slowly  crawling  over  toward 
him.  It  was  about  an  inch  long,  with  two  stripes 
down  its  back — an  ugly,  wicked -looking  thing. 

"Say,  boys,  what  is  that  thing?  He  is  coming  over 
toward  me  I  believe,  and  I  can't  move  at  all.  I 
don't  like  his  looks  one  bit.  I  wish  Bob  White  had 
stayed  a  little  longer.  See  what  a  mean-looking 
head  he  has!  Oh,  he  is  coming  right  over  here,  and 
will  soon  be  on  one  of  us!  Can't  we  wave  our  arms 
and  get  help,  I  wonder?" 

So,  putting  this  suggestion  into  action,  the  three 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  39 

little  stalks  frantically  waved  their  arms  and  soon 
became  terribly  excited.  All  the  time  the  big  vil- 
lainous looking  Cut  Worm  being  unable  to  locate 
anything  to  eat  during  the  night,  had  now  become 
desperate  and  even  the  beautiful  sunlight  of  this 
glorious  morning  had  failed  to  make  him  hunt 
cover,  so  he  was  making  his  way  slowly  but  surely 
toward  the  three  young  and  tender  plants.  As  he 
neared  them  he  became  more  determined  and  they 
became  more  hysterical  and  desperate,  shrieking 
with  terror.  Then  suddenly  Bob  White's  friend, 
Prairie  Chicken,  who  was  strutting  on  an  adjoining 
hill,  heard  the  disturbance,  and  swooped  down  with 
a  great  noise  and  rush  of  wings,  just  in  time,  as  the 
big  cut  worm  was  opening  his  mouth  to  cut  one  of 
the  young  plants  down. 

However,  Prairie  Chicken  made  short  work  of  him, 
then  strutted  around  with  his  big  yellow  wind  bags 
on  his  neck  blown  up  nearly  to  bursting  point,  and 
his  two  long  black  feathers  standing  out  behind  like 
horns.  Then  he  kicked  up  a  lot  of  dust  with  his 
feet  and  made  a  nice  wallow  in  the  warm  soil  into 
which  he  settled  himself  to  enjoy  a  dust  bath.  He 
was  such  a  big  fellow  that  the  little  stalk  was  afraid, 
but  being  so  grateful  for  what  he  had  done,  he  ven- 
tured to  open  the  conversation. 


40  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"I  am  awfully  grateful  to  you,  Mr.  Rooster,  for 
saving  my  life.  Bob  White  said  that  you  were  such 
a  big-hearted  fellow,  and  would  help  us  out  if  we 
needed  you,  and  we  did  need  you  so  badly." 

"Oh,  shucks!  Don't  mention  it.  I  needed  that 
cut  worm  in  my  business  anyway,  to  balance  my  ra- 
tion. Any  time  you  need  me  just  wave  your  arms, 
and  kick  up  a  fuss  and  I  will  be  right  over.  I  have 
my  family  over  on  the  little  hill  in  the  pasture," 
replied  the  big  rooster,  as  he  soared  away  on  a  pair 
of  wonderful  wings.  Every  morning  the  big  rooster 
would  fly  over  on  the  nearby  hill  and  wake  up  the 
three  brothers  with  his  booming,  crowing,  and  strut- 
ting, so  they  felt  that  they  had  a  real  friend  close 
at  hand  at  all  times. 

During  the  succeeding  days  and  weeks  the  three 
brothers  saw  many  amusing  things,  and  also  some 
real  tragedies.  It  was  a  revelation  to  see  the  great 
quantity  of  chinch  bugs,  corn-bill  bugs  and  the  like, 
that  Bob  White  would  eat  during  a  day.  They 
never  had  a  chance  to  get  away.  Then  Stubby  the 
field  mouse  became  absorbed  in  digging  out  a  nearby 
hill  of  corn  and  did  not  notice  the  stealthy  approach 
of  Blue  Racer  the  snake,  who  with  a  rush  gobbled 
poor  Stubby  with  his  powerful  jaws  and  then  spent 
most  of  the  forenoon  swallowing  him  whole. 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  KERNEL  OF  CORN  41 

Little  Johnnie  Chipmunk  silently  slipped  through 
the  fence  and  began  digging  for  a  kernel  of  corn,  as 
he  felt  that  one  wouldn't  be  missed  from  so  many, 
when  like  a  shot  from  the  clouds  came  our  watchful 
friend  Prairie  Hawk  and  speared  poor  Johnnie  with 
his  terrible  talons  and  bore  him  away  to  his  nest  in 
the  big  cottonwood  tree.  However,  Chuck  the  go- 
pher made  several  raids  on  the  adjoining  hills  and 
his  powerful  front  legs  soon  dug  away  the  soil  and 
exposed  the  kernels,  which  he  took  great  delight  in 
eating  without  any  further  ceremony.  He  especially 
liked  the  hearts  of  the  kernels,  and  would  make  a 
full  meal  on  kernel  hearts.  He  had  a  good  helper  in 
Jim  Crow,  who  seemed  to  be  afraid  of  no  one  but 
Old  timer  and  Farmer  Good ;  he  would  make  a  lot  of 
noise  and  then  tell  everyone  to  watch  him  while  he 
pulled  up  a  lot  of  corn,  and  see  how  much  damage 
he  could  do.  He  is  a  tough  customer  and  doesn't 
care  who  knows  it. 

However,  while  the  three  brothers  had  enemies  to 
contend  with,  yet  these  did  not  include  weeds,  for 
Farmer  Good  and  Oldtimer  kept  the  fields  well  cul- 
tivated and  in  fine  condition,  so  that  the  brothers 
soon  grew  strong  and  healthy  and  with  many  good 
showers  they  became  matured,  healthy  ears. 

Then  one  day  in  October  Farmer  Good  and  the 


42  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

boys  began  to  husk  the  beautiful  ripe  ears  on  each 
row  separately,  until  the  row  with  our  three  friends 
was  gathered,  and  upon  weighing  them  Farmer  Good 
remarked:  "That's  the  winner  all  right — just  as  I 
said  it  would  be.  Just  123  bushels  to  the  acre  for 
row  1632  and  as  fine  corn  as  was  ever  grown.  We 
will  take  all  these  fine  ears  which  have  kept  a  good 
record  for  sixteen  years,  and  plant  our  multiplying 
plots,  which  will  insure  us  seed  of  the  very  best  for 
all  time." 

"That  will  be  great,  won't  it?"  exclaimed  one  of 
the  brothers.  "We  shall  be  back  here  next  year,  with 
our  friends  Bob  White  and  Prairie  Chicken." 


Hand  pollinating  special  strains  of  corn.    The  scientific  breeding 
of  the  grain. 


A  perfect  hill  of  corn. 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS 

T  TOME  at  last/'  warbled  the  lustrous  purple 
'*•  •••  martin,  as  he  finished  his  fifteen-hundred- 
mile  flight  and  alighted  on  the  front  porch  of  his 
own  home,  which  Farmer  Good  had  erected  for  him 
two  years  before,  and  which  he  had  left  last  Sep- 
tember for  his  winter  quarters  in  the  southern  seas. 
Early  in  April  he  had  left  the  Isle  of  Pines,  a  small 
island  due  south  of  Cuba,  where  he  had  made  many 
friends  whom  he  was  continually  telling  of  the  at- 
tractive summer  home  he  had  in  Illinois  on  the  big 
farm.  He  invited  them  to  come  with  him  and 
spend  their  summer,  and  he  enlarged  upon  the 
beauty  of  the  house,  with  its  twenty-four  commodi- 
ous outside  rooms,  all  with  the  most  modern  con- 
veniences, and  the  four  special  suites  for  the  newly- 
weds  who  he  hoped  would  join  the  party.  He  went 
into  ecstasies  describing  the  surroundings  of  his 
home,  with  its  beautiful  setting  and  the  natural 
grandeur  of  the  place,  and  also  told  them  of  the 
great  number  of  bird  friends  of  other  families  they 
would  meet  there,  assuring  everyone  of  the  great 

43 


44  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

social  advantages  to  be  gained.  He  gave  such  glow- 
ing accounts  of  this  home  that  he  soon  had  quite  a 
delegation  on  that  April  morning  when  he  gave  the 
signal  and  the  entire  party  of  home-seekers  "hopped 
off"  on  their  long  journey  to  the  north  land. 

They  stopped  a  few  hours  in  Cuba  to  rest  their 
wings  for  the  journey  across  the  Gulf  Stream,  and 
then,  when  all  were  rested,  they  started  across  the 
great  blue  waters  of  that  greatest  of  ocean  rivers 
and  finally  pulled  up  on  the  southern  shores  of 
Florida,  where  they  spent  a  few  days  in  feeding  on 
the  mosquitoes  of  the  Everglades.  The  following 
days  were  passed  in  making  short  trips  across 
Florida,  Georgia,  and  Tennessee,  stopping  to  rest 
and  feed  as  the  occasion  demanded,  but  all  the  time 
the  leader  was  so  anxious  to  complete  the  trip  that  he 
kept  urging  them  on.  They  encountered  some 
stormy  weather  in  Kentucky,  which  delayed  them 
somewhat,  but  as  they  crossed  the  Ohio  River,  the 
sun  came  out  in  the  early  forenoon  of  the  last  day 
of  their  trip  and  warmed  the  new  world  wonderfully 
of  this  beautiful  spring  day.  The  big  purple  pilot 
ordered  full  speed  ahead  and  soon  they  sighted  the 
Wabash  River.  This  they  followed  for  some  time 
until  they  came  to  the  site  of  old  Fort  Harrison, 
now  a  beautiful  country  club. 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          45 

There  was  also  a  large  martin  colony  here  in  two 
fine  houses,  wonderfully  placed  on  the  high  bank 
of  the  great  river,  and  commanding  a  view  in  all 
directions.  The  members  of  this  colony  had  arrived 
the  day  before  and  were  therefore  resting  from  their 
long  journey.  As  our  party  of  tourists  came  in  sight, 
a  scout  was  sent  to  meet  them,  asking  them  to  stop 
and  rest  a  while.  This  they  did  and  exchanged 
greetings  and  the  experiences  of  the  trip,  but  as  they 
were  now  within  fifty  miles  of  their  destination  they 
all  were  anxious  to  be  moving. 

After  resting  an  hour,  during  which  tune  they 
thoroughly  inspected  the  Fort  Harrison  Martin  Club, 
they  thanked  their  hosts  most  profusely  for  inviting 
them  to  stop  and  break  the  journey,  then  took  a 
northwesterly  course,  and  just  about  mid-afternoon 
came  in  sight  of  the  big  farm.  It  was  easily  located, 
with  its  many  white  buildings  and  the  big  brick  house 
situated  in  a  grove  of  giant  trees,  all  adjoining  a 
white  concrete  pavement  that  had  been  constructed 
through  the  country  a  few  years  before. 

As  the  pilot  circled  the  buildings  of  the  big  farm, 
giving  his  friends  a  first  view  of  the  place,  he  noted 
that  a  new  house  had  been  built  for  his  family  dur- 
ing the  winter.  This  pleased  him  very  much,  for  he 
had  been  worrying  during  the  entire  journey  lest  he 


46  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

had  more  tourists  than  the  former  house  could  ac- 
commodate. But  here  was  a  new  house,  a  Chinese 
pagoda.  Just  the  thing  for  some  of  the  newly-weds, 
off  by  themselves! 

"And  a  new  coat  of  paint  on  the  old  house !  Now, 
folks,  this  is  even  better  than  I  had  hoped  for.  A 
new  house,  the  old  one  painted,  cleaned,  and  refur- 
nished, and  we  are  here  in  fine  shape  to  begin  a 
wonderful  summer,"  shouted  the  big  blue-purple 
martin,  so  proud  of  himself  that  he  was  nearly 
bursting  with  pride. 

However,  no  sooner  had  they  arrived  than  they 
were  attacked  by  dozens  of  pugnacious  English  spar- 
rows, who  at  once  contested  the  rights  of  ownership. 
This  seemed  the  only  drawback  to  the  pleasant  sur- 
roundings, so  the  martins  determined  to  stand  to- 
gether and  drive  off  the  sparrows.  They  eventually 
accomplished  this,  but  not  without  a  hard  fight 
which  took  constant  work  for  many  days.  In  this 
they  were  aided  by  the  people  of  the  big  house,  who 
shot  and  trapped  many  of  the  sparrows. 

Within  a  few  days  of  their  arrival  they  noticed 
that  most  of  the  other  birds  had  arrived  for  the 
summer.  Blackbird  Jim  and  his  crowd  were  already 
here  and  selecting  home  sites  in  the  white  pine,  the 


Martin  arrives  with  his  friends  from  the  south-land. 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          47 

Norway  spruce  and  the  firs.  The  doves,  too,  had 
arrived,  and  had  taken  up  claims  in  the  arbor-vitse 
hedges  and  the  Scotch  pines.  The  bluebirds  had 
been  here,  so  Blackbird  Jim  said,  but  the  sparrows 
had  driven  them  away. 

Cock  Robin  had  been  on  the  ground  for  weeks  and 
had  located  his  homes  under  the  eaves  of  the  front 
porch,  the  well-house,  and  the  garage,  and  in  the 
apple  trees  of  the  orchard,  where  he  would  be  right 
on  the  spot  to  do  the  most  good  in  destroying  bugs 
and  worms. 

Jackie  Jaybird  was  also  building  homes  in  the 
trees,  along  with  Blackbird  Jim,  while  Jenny  Wren 
had  been  cleaning  house  for  a  week  in  the  new  wren 
house  hanging  in  the  flower  garden.  The  flickers 
were  present  and  were  hurrying  around  picking  up 
an  ant  here  and  there,  while  getting  ready  to  drill 
a  hole  in  the  old  elm  tree,  that  had  just  enough  dead 
wood  to  provide  a  home. 

Reddy  Woodpecker  was  seen  dodging  around  on 
the  telephone  pole,  which  he  had  already  drilled 
halfway  through,  so  that  he  was  now  comfortably 
located  for  the  summer. 

The  nuthatches  seemed  to  be  busy  everywhere, 
and  so  did  the  warblers,  thrushes,  catbirds,  red-eyed 


48  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

vireo,  black-billed  cuckoo,  and  many  others,  all 
hurrying  to  construct  their  homes  and  attending 
strictly  to  their  own  business. 

The  kingbird  was  looking  after  his  affairs  out  in 
the  pasture,  while  the  swallows  were  hurrying  from 
the  pool  to  the  barn  carrying  mud  to  construct  their 
nests,  under  the  eaves  of  the  building. 

The  night  hawk  was  seen  sleeping  on  a  limb  which 
was  the  same  color  as  his  feathers,  awaiting  the  twi- 
light when  he  would  begin  the  hunt  for  his  food, 
consisting  of  mosquitoes  and  insects  which  fly  mostly 
at  night. 

The  newly  arrived  martins  liked  their  new  friends, 
and  felt  that  with  such  good  companions  their  sum- 
mer would  be  most  pleasant. 

"I  am  wondering  whether  with  all  these  bird  fami- 
lies located  here,  there  will  be  enough  food  to  go 
around,"  inquired  one  martin  of  Screechy  the  owl. 

"Now  don't  worry  about  that.  You  will  be  kept 
busy  to  keep  the  insects  from  taking  the  place!  Let 
me  see,  what  is  it  you  eat  mostly?  Mosquitoes  and 
flies,  isn't  it?  Yes,  that  is  it,"  asked  Screechy,  and 
answered  his  question  at  the  same  time.  "Well,  the 
other  birds  eat  other  things,  so  they  will  not  inter- 
fere with  you,  and  we  are  all  going  to  get  together 
in  a  short  time  and  make  a  cooperative  arrangement, 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          49 

whereby  each  family  of  birds  will  have  a  certain  duty 
to  perform  and  certain  insects  to  destroy.  When 
we  call  the  meeting  we  want  you  there  with  everyone 
else,"  concluded  the  owl. 

Within  a  few  days  the  martins  were  all  settled  in 
their  new  quarters.  The  rooms  were  all  assigned 
to  the  happy  couples,  and  nest-building  was  begun 
at  once.  The  martins  did  not  take  much  care  in  the 
building  of  their  nests.  They  were  very  poor  archi- 
tects; consequently,  they  had  finished  their  work 
when  Screechy  the  owl  notified  them  one  evening 
that  at  dawn  the  next  morning  a  great  meeting 
would  be  held  and  all  the  birds  were  to  attend. 

Early  the  next  morning  a  great  gathering  was  held 
in  the  big  apple  orchard — such  a  gathering  as  no 
bird  had  ever  heard  of  before.  Out  there  in  the  early 
dawn,  just  as  the  sun  was  peeping  over  the  eastern 
horizon,  with  the  apple  trees  in  full  bloom,  and  the 
sweet  fragrance  of  the  blossoms  on  the  crisp  morning 
air,  with  every  bird  great  and  small  in  the  entire 
country  in  attendance,  the  wise  old  owl  called  the 
meeting  to  order  and  in  his  measured  tones  began: 

"My  Friends,  we  are  called  together  this  morning 
for  the  purpose  of  renewing  our  faith  in  each  other, 
to  establish  greater  cooperation,  and  to  come  to  a 
better  understanding  with  one  another  concerning 


50  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

the  laws  and  customs  of  the  bird  world  that  were 
established  many,  many  years  ago.  There  is  a 
legend,  so  I  am  informed,  that  such  a  meeting  as 
this  was  held  at  the  beginning  of  the  world,  which 
every  kind  of  bird  attended.  At  that  meeting  a 
certain  duty  was  given  to  each  bird ;  each  had  his  cer- 
tain kind  of  work  to  perform.  There  was  a  reason 
for  it. 

"Man  was  created  in  the  image  of  God  Himself 
and  placed  in  a  beautiful  garden  with  the  birds,  ani- 
mals, and  flowers,  and  with  everything  beautiful  and 
harmonious.  But  it  was  not  long  before  Man  al- 
lowed sin  to  creep  into  the  garden  and  into  his  life, 
and  from  that  day  Man  has  had  his  troubles,  his 
worries,  and  his  enemies.  The  enemies  embraced 
many  things,  but  some  of  the  most  troublesome  were 
the  injurious  insects  that  came  at  the  time  Man  was 
driven  from  the  garden.  It  was  then  that  the  great 
meeting  was  held,  at  which  each  bird  was  given  a 
duty  to  perform  which  would  lessen  the  burden  of 
Man.  The  duty  that  was  assigned  and  the  task  that 
each  bird  assumed  at  that  memorable  meeting  is 
the  same  to-day  as  then,  thousands  of  years  ago, 
and  each  year  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  birds  who 
were  born  only  the  previous  year,  a  meeting  like 
this  is  held,  to  impress  upon  them  the  importance  of 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          51 

keeping  the  faith,  and  the  great  necessity  that  each 
bird  family  should  perform  its  work  well. 

"Now  the  birds  were  separated  into  various  divi- 
sions. There  were  those  who  were  to  feed  in  the  air 
on  flying  insects,  and  others  who  were  to  feed  on 
the  ground  on  worms  and  insects;  others  to  feed  in 
the  trees  on  tree  insects;  others  to  feed  at  night  in 
the  air;  others  to  feed  at  night  on  the  ground;  others 
to  feed  on  the  water,  and  still  another  division,  whose 
food  was  to  be  the  seeds  of  weeds.  Each  bird  was 
created  in  a  manner  that  was  peculiarly  adapted  to 
his  division  and  to  the  kind  of  duty  he  was  to  per- 
form. He  was  also  endowed  with  very  rapid  res- 
piration and  high  temperature,  so  that  the  amount 
of  food  needed  in  proportion  to  his  size  is  far  in  ex- 
cess of  that  required  by  any  animals.  This  enables 
him  to  destroy  great  quantities  of  insects,  and  thus 
to  be  a  great  benefactor  to  mankind. 

"The  birds  that  were  to  feed  on  flying  insects  were 
especially  constructed  for  that  kind  of  work,  as  were, 
indeed,  the  birds  of  every  division  for  their  respec- 
tive tasks.  These  birds,  which  have  small  bodies, 
with  great  wing-spread,  are  the  martins,  swallows, 
kingbirds,  and  others  of  this  kind,  and  mosquitoes, 
flies,  moths,  robber  flies,  and  flying  beetles  were  ap- 
pointed for  their  food.  The  birds  that  feed  on  the 


52  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

ground  are  the  robins,  blackbirds,  thrushes,  meadow 
larks,  crows,  quail,  prairie  chickens,  and  others,  and 
their  food  consists  of  grasshoppers,  caterpillars,  cut 
worms,  wire  worms,  corn-root  worms,  Hessian  flies, 
chinch  bugs,  army  worms,  May  bettles,  click  beetles, 
bill  bugs,  and  many  other  insects.    The  birds  that 
feed  in  the  trees  on  tree  insects  are  of  two  kinds: 
first,  the  warblers,  catbirds,  thrushes,  cuckoos,  cedar 
birds,  vireos,  chickadees,  blue  jays,  and  orioles  feed 
on  caterpillars  and  all  leaf-eating  insects,  and  second, 
the  woodpeckers,  nuthatches,  flickers,  and  titmice 
take  care  of  the  insects  and  worms  that  bore  into 
the  bark  of  trees,  such  as  apple-tree  and  peach-tree 
borers.    The  birds  that  feed  at  night  in  the  air  are 
the  night  hawks,  eating  mosquitoes,  moths,  and  fly- 
ing ants.    The  owls — and  there  are  many  varieties 
— feed  on  ground  mice  and  small  animals  at  night. 
The  birds  that  feed  on  the  water  are  the  gulls,  ducks, 
geese,  cranes,  bitterns  and  others.  They  also  are  per- 
fectly adapted  and  equipped  for  the  work  that  they 
are  to  perform.    The  birds  that  take  weed  seeds  for 
their  food  are  quail,  prairie  chickens,  doves,  and 
snow  birds,  while  the  birds  that  look  after  the  in- 
sects of  the  garden  are  the  wren,  robin,  chirping  spar- 
row, song  sparrow,  and  quail.    Those  which  feed  in 
the  daytime  on  the  field  mice,  gophers,  and  small 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          53 

animals  are  the  many  different  members  of  the  hawk 
family. 

"Now  we  are  all  here  for  a  purpose.  We  have  a 
duty  to  perform.  If  we  do  not  prove  ourselves 
worthy  of  protection  by  doing  a  kindness  and  ful- 
filling the  mission  for  which  we  were  created,  then 
we  are  regarded  as  pests  and  fit  subjects  for  destruc- 
tion. So  let  us  have  cooperation.  Let  each  fellow 
work  with  his  neighbor  in  bringing  about  the  desired 
result,  and  keep  the  faith  of  that  first  great  meeting 
centuries  ago."  Saying  this,  the  wise  old  owl  ad- 
journed the  meeting  just  as  the  bees  came  to  work, 
gathering  honey  from  the  blossoms  of  the  apple 
trees. 

"What  am  I  to  do?"  exclaimed  Humming  Bird. 
"You  have  not  mentioned  me  at  all." 

"Why,  bless  you,  we  had  overlooked  you!  But 
you  really  have  a  very  important  mission,  that  no 
one  else  can  perform.  You  are  to  gather  the  honey 
from  the  lilies  and  other  large  flowers  in  the  garden. 
In  doing  this  you  will  carry  the  pollen  from  one 
to  another,  thus  fertilizing  the  flowers,  so  that  they 
will  be  perpetuated  from  year  to  year,"  answered 
Screechy  the  owl. 

Then  with  a  great  noise  the  birds  flew  in  every 
direction  to  carry  out  instructions.  Chattering  and 


54  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

singing  as  they  went,  they  constituted  a  great  aerial 
army  for  good  if  properly  directed. 

Martin  began  his  work  at  once,  as  he  flew  out  over 
the  big  herd  of  cattle  and  began  gathering  in  the 
cattle  flies  by  the  hundreds.  Later  in  the  day  he 
feasted  on  mosquitoes,  and  in  the  summer  he  took 
a  great  fancy  to  the  yellow  cabbage  butterflies,  that 
lay  their  eggs  on  the  cabbage  and  cauliflower. 

Cock  Robin  made  a  rush  for  the  garden  and  began 
tearing  out  cut  worms  from  the  roots  of  the  plants, 
and  it  looked  as  if  he  would  never  get  enough. 

Frame  Chicken  and  Bob  White  flew  back  to  their 
wheat  field  and  began  again  to  rid  the  field  of  Hes- 
sian flies  and  chinch  bugs,  while  back  in  the  apple 
orchard  Reddy  Woodpecker  yelled,  "Use  your  head, 
fellows,  use  your  head/7  as  he  drilled  through  the 
apple-tree  bark  into  the  cocoon  of  a  codling-moth 
and  began  his  belated  breakfast. 

Everyone  began  work  with  a  will.  Every  protec- 
tion had  been  afforded  the  birds  by  the  owner  of  the 
big  farm;  consequently  they  were  all  quite  happy  as 
they  began  their  successful  campaign  of  destroying 
millions  of  injurious  insects  during  the  summer. 
This  cooperative  spirit  of  the  birds  made  it  possible 
for  the  farm  to  produce  great  yields  of  grain  and  it 
was  this  spirit  of  cooperation  and  brotherly  love, 


MARTIN  AND  HIS  BIRD  FRIENDS          55 

which  prevailed  on  the  big  farm,  that  brought  the 
martins  and  their  friends  back  each  spring  to  mingle 
with  one  another  in  contentment  amid  the  apple 
blossoms  of  the  orchard. 


PRAIRIE  ROSE 

"TAOWN  a  long,  lonesome,  winding  woods  road 
•*^^  that  led  to  a  primitive  bit  of  forest  we  find  the 
lovely  Prairie  Rose,  idly  passing  the  early  spring 
days  in  a  shaded  ravine  which  led  down  the  hill  to 
the  little  creek.  The  prairie  rose,  the  sumac,  and  the 
sassafras  were  awakening  from  their  long  winter's 
nap  on  this  clear  March  morning,  and  as  they 
stretched  and  shook  themselves  into  consciousness  on 
the  sunny  side  of  the  little  ravine,  Prairie  Rose  won- 
dered if  his  friends  of  the  late  summer  were  still 
about.  In  looking  around  he  soon  spied  Happy  Jack 
the  fox  squirrel  digging  up  a  walnut  which  he  had 
buried  last  November.  Also  Johnnie  Chipmunk  was 
under  the  great  oak  tree,  searching  for  a  stray  acorn 
which  might  have  been  overlooked  in  the  early  fall. 
Feeling  a  slight  movement  on  one  of  his  long  vines, 
he  glanced  down,  and  there  was  Peter  Rabbit  just 
stretching  himself  and  getting  ready  to  take  another 
nap. 

"Hello,  boys!  My,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  all  again ! 
I  surely  did  have  a  long  nap/'  said  Prairie  Rose. 
"You  are  all  here  but  Bob  White.  Where  is  he?" 

56 


PRAIRIE  ROSE  57 

"It  is  like  this/'  Happy  Jack  the  squirrel  replied. 
"Bob  White  had  a  friend  call  on  him  last  fall  who 
told  him  about  a  wonderful  part  of  the  country, 
where  a  big  farm  was  located  which  had  a  lot  of 
wheat  stubble  left  over  it  that  was  just  loaded  with 
good  things  to  eat — shattered  wheat  kernels  and  a 
lot  of  bugs  and  worms,  with  every  prospect  of  a  plen- 
tiful supply  this  spring  and  summer — so  Bob  White 
took  his  family  and  went  along  with  him.  Couldn't 
resist  the  temptation/'  concluded  Happy  Jack. 

"It's  too  bad  that  some  folks  can't  be  satisfied 
with  their  own  surroundings/'  said  Sumac.  "This 
is  home  to  us  and  we  would  feel  terribly  out  of  place 
anywhere  but  on  the  side  of  this  little  ravine." 

"Well,  that  may  be,  but  don't  you  ever  have  the 
desire  to  know  what  the  rest  of  the  world  is  like  and 
to  see  if  there  aren't  great  improvements  over  our 
own  locality?"  questioned  Frame  Rose.  "Seems  to 
me  that  I  would  like  to  see  something  of  the  rest 
of  this  country,  as  I  know  that  farther  up  the  creek 
is  an  entirely  different  world  from  what  we  have  and 
I  don't  blame  Bob  White  one  bit  for  wanting  to  get 
away.  I  hope  some  day  I  shall  be  able  to  see  some- 
thing different  myself,  but  just  now  there  seems  to 
be  little  hope." 

"About  the  only  excitement  I  ever  experience  is 


58  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

when  one  of  the  boys  from  up  the  creek  comes  down 
here  and  digs  up  some  of  my  roots  to  make  tea," 
commented  Sassafras.  "This  is  about  the  season, 
too.  Last  year  they  woke  me  up  with  their  digging 
and  cutting,  but  so  far  no  one  has  been  along.  Why! 
look  at  White  Elm!  He  has  had  an  accident — lost 
one  of  his  best  limbs.  I  wonder  what  was  the  cause," 
Sassafras  went  on. 

"Well,  you  see  it  was  like  this,"  began  Peter  Rab- 
bit, sitting  under  Prairie  Rose.  "Bobby  Coon  had 
his  home  in  that  big  limb,  and  one  dark  night  he 
came  rushing  home,  and  just  at  his  heels  was  a  pack 
of  hounds  and  some  men  from  up  the  creek.  Bobby 
ran  up  to  his  home  in  a  hurry,  but  the  men,  with  the 
aid  of  a  ladder  and  ropes,  climbed  up  White  Elm 
and  cut  off  the  limb.  Bobby  came  crashing  to  the 
ground,  and  the  fall  broke  Judas  Tree,  Gooseberry 
Bush,  and  Young  Hickory,  and  in  the  confusion 
Bobby  made  a  hurried  escape  and  got  to  his  old 
friend  Big  Oak,  which  was  too  big  for  the  men  to  cut 
down  or  to  climb,  so  they  left  Bobby  alone.  It  was 
a  terrible  night,  and  every  time  we  hear  a  dog  howl 
or  a  hound  bark,  we  all  think  of  Bobby  and  his  nar- 
row escape.  It  has  shortened  the  life  of  White  Elm 
to  lose  his  limb  and  he  is  feeling  terribly  over  it." 


PRAIRIE  ROSE  59 

"Listen,"  said  Sassafras,  "I  hear  a  wagon  coming, 
and  men  talking.  I  expect  they  are  going  to  make 
me  a  call.  Yes,  it  must  be,  as  one  of  them  came  to 
see  me  last  year."  Just  at  this  point  two  men  drove 
up  to  the  edge  of  the  ravine.  After  getting  out  of 
the  wagon,  as  soon  as  they  saw  Prairie  Rose,  they 
took  spades  and  began  to  dig  carefully  around  the 
roots  of  the  bush.  As  soon  as  they  had  it  loosened, 
they  wrapped  burlap  sacks  around  the  ball  of  earth 
and  roots,  and  then,  after  putting  Prairie  Rose  in 
the  wagon,  they  drove  away.  All  this  time  the  other 
trees  and  shrubs  were  just  dying  of  curiosity. 

"What  on  earth  do  those  fellows  want  with  Prai- 
rie Rose?"  acidly  remarked  Sassafras.  "I  can  see 
what  they  would  want  with  me,  but  that  rose  bush 
doesn't  taste  good;  neither  does  it  contribute  any- 
thing to  anyone  that  I  can  see." 

"Well,  Prairie  Rose  has  a  beautiful  bloom,  you 
will  have  to  admit,  adds  beauty  to  the  community  in 
which  he  resides,  and  gives  protection  to  his  animal 
and  bird  friends,"  ventured  Sumac. 

"Evidently  he  has  some  attractive  characteristics 
to  be  the  only  one  selected.  He  is  not  going  to  be 
destroyed,  because  those  men  were  very  careful  hi 
digging  him  up,  and  it  is  my  impression  that  his  life 


60  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

from  now  on  will  be  brighter  and  be  more  appreci- 
ated," was  the  sage  comment  of  the  flowering  dog- 
wood tree. 

The  summer  passed  and  winter  came  on,  without 
the  mystery  being  solved,  yet  the  disappearance  of 
Prairie  Rose  was  the  favorite  topic  of  conversation  of 
the  trees,  birds,  and  animals  of  the  primitive  forest. 
Many  rumors  were  heard  concerning  the  fate  of  the 
beautiful  bush,  but  no  definite  information  came, 
and  finally  all  the  shrubs,  plants,  and  trees  closed 
their  eyes  one  cold  winter  night,  and  went  into  their 
long,  long  sleep. 

Just  about  a  year  after  the  day  when  the  vacancy 
on  the  hillside  was  created  by  the  removal  of  Prairie 
Rose,  and  the  warm  days  of  spring  had  stirred  to  life 
the  trees  along  the  creek,  a  wagon  with  the  same  two 
men  drove  up  to  the  edge  of  the  ravine,  and  began 
inspecting  the  various  trees  and  shrubs. 

"Oh,  look!"  cried  Sumac;  "the  same  men  are  back 
again.  I  wonder  which  one  of  us  will  figure  in  the 
mysterious  disappearance  this  time." 

After  looking  around  quite  a  while  the  two  men 
came  directly  to  the  group  of  shrubs  in  the  ravine 
and  began  carefully  to  dig  up  not  only  Sumac  but 
Sassafras,  Dogwood,  Judas  Tree,  and  many  others. 
The  men  were  very  careful,  in  taking  our  friends  up, 


PRAIRIE  ROSE  61 

to  see  that  the  roots  were  not  injured,  and  as  soon 
as  they  were  taken  out  of  the  ground  they  were 
placed  in  the  wagon,  with  leaves  and  soil  packed 
around  them  to  keep  the  air  away,  so  that  the  roots 
would  not  become  dry.  After  everything  was  loaded, 
Sumac  looked  around  and  noted  that  their  good 
friend  young  Hard  Maple  was  not  taken,  but  was 
left  all  alone  on  the  side  of  the  ravine,  his  limbs 
drooping,  and  looking  very  lonesome  as  his  friends 
were  being  carried  away. 

The  trees  in  the  back  of  the  wagon,  all  crowded 
together,  full  of  apprehension,  and  very  much  mys- 
tified, were  speechless,  as  they  had  no  idea  what  the 
future  held  for  them.  However,  they  ascended  a 
long  winding  hill,  then  down  a  rough  woods  lane 
that  led  through  the  forest,  and  as  they  went 
bumpty,  bump,  bump  down  the  old  road,  it  was  a 
trying  experience  for  some  of  the  more  timid  ones. 

Farther  on,  the  forest  began  to  disappear  and  the 
country  to -became  more  open.  Broad  fertile  fields 
appeared  with  men  working  in  them,  and  beautiful 
blue  grass  pastures,  with  grazing  herds  under  the 
spreading  trees,  made  an  entirely  different  world. 

But  the  best  of  all  was  the  type  of  road  they  were 
riding  on.  It  was  a  beautiful  white  pavement, 
smooth  as  could  be,  and  they  traveled  along  so  easily 


62  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

that  it  was  much  more  of  a  comfort  than  riding 
down  the  old  timber  lane.  After  riding  on  this  high- 
way for  a  few  miles,  going  alongside  fertile  farms 
with  beautiful  homes,  they  soon  came  to  a  very 
picturesque  place.  Here  the  men  drew  their  horses 
to  one  side  of  the  road  and  came  to  a  stop  where 
many  shrubs  and  trees  were  growing.  As  they  did 
so  a  great  covey  of  Bob  Whites  flew  out  from  the 
protecting  bushes  and  Sumac  thought  he  saw  a  re- 
semblance to  one  of  his  former  friends,  yet  events 
were  moving  so  rapidly  that  he  soon  forgot  the  in- 
cident. 

The  men  took  their  tools  and  began  digging  great 
holes  in  the  ground  at  the  side  of  the  road;  then 
they  came  and  selected  Sumac,  Dogwood,  and  the 
others  and  placed  them  in  the  ground,  carefully 
putting  the  soil  around  the  roots,  and  then  water- 
ing them  well. 

After  all  this  had  taken  place  and  consciousness 
had  returned  to  Sumac,  he  heard  a  familiar  voice 
shouting  to  him,  and  looking  down  at  his  right 
whom  do  you  suppose  he  saw  there  smiling  up  at 
him,  just  shaking  with  gladness  and  beaming  all 
over? 

"Well!  Well!  Here's  where  you  have  been  all  this 
past  year,  is  it?  Oh,  boys!  Here  is  our  good  friend 


PRAIRIE  ROSE  63 

Prairie  Rose,"  Sumac  called  out.  "Say,  isn't  this 
great?  And  to  think  we  are  all  here  together 
again  in  this  beautiful  place!  I  wonder  who 
ever  thought  of  using  us  to  beautify  the  roadsides, 
when  there  are  so  many  other  flowers  and  edu- 
cated shrubs  and  plants  in  use,"  said  Sumac, 
thoughtfully. 

"I  will  tell  you  all  about  it/'  began  Prairie  Rose. 
"Last  year  when  I  was  brought  up  here  the  learned 
professors  from  the  University  were  here  and  told 
the  other  men  in  my  hearing  that  it  was  the  plan 
of  the  Dean  of  that  great  College  of  Agriculture  to 
develop  rural  roadside  planting.  So,  through  the 
Landscape  Department  of  the  University,  this  sys- 
tem of  road  beautification,  The  Illinois  Way/  was 
adopted.  This  mile  of  roadway  with  its  beautiful 
pavement  was  the  first  to  be  selected,  as  the  one 
to  be  improved  under  this  system.  By  using  the 
native  flowers,  shrubs,  and  trees,  the  roadway  is 
beautified  and  we  add  to  the  pleasure  of  those  who 
pass  this  way.  Here  you  will  see  the  new  machines 
that  people  ride  in,  that  we  never  heard  of  down 
by  the  creek  in  the  forest,  and  if  you  are  observing 
you  will  have  a  chance  to  see  many  interesting 
things  in  the  course  of  a  day." 

"It's  too  bad  that  Hard  Maple  couldn't  have 


64  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

come  along.  He  looked  so  lonesome,"  lamented 
Sumac. 

All  at  once,  with  a  rush  of  wings,  Bob  White  and 
his  family  came  back  to  see  what  was  the  cause 
of  all  the  commotion,  and  then  a  general  reunion 
was  held,  for  Bob  White  had  not  seen  these  friends 
for  nearly  two  years. 

"This  is  a  grand  place,"  exclaimed  Bob  White. 
"Farmer  Good  feeds  us  and  protects  us  all  the 
while,  and  will  not  let  anyone  hunt  us  with  guns 
and  dogs.  He  will  surely  take  good  care  of  you  and 
you  will  be  very  happy  here,  with  all  your  old 
friends,  and  you  will  make  a  lot  of  new  ones,  too." 

Two  years  had  elapsed.  Our  friends  had  devel- 
oped into  beautiful  shrubs  and  trees,  all  very  happy 
and  contented,  when  one  day  the  boy  who  had  first 
found  Prairie  Rose  and  planted  him,  but  had  been 
away  for  two  years,  came  and  dug  a  hole  near  the 
fence,  on  the  other  side  of  Prairie  Rose. 

All  was  excitement  at  once.  What  could  it  all 
mean,  and  who  was  to  be  the  new  arrival?  Then 
again  the  wagon  drove  up  and  who  do  you  think 
was  taken  out  and  put  into  the  place  that  was 
ready?  No  one  but  Hard  Maple. 

"Hooray  for  the  U.  S.  A.,"  yelled  Sumac. 


PRAIRIE  ROSE  65 

"That's  right,"  cried  Hard  Maple.  "That's  why 
I  am  here.  The  good  old  U.  S.  A.  won  the  war,  and 
one  of  the  boys  on  the  big  farm  here  helped  to  do  the 
business.  Therefore  I  am  now  a  memorial  tree, 
planted  here  to  perpetuate  and  keep  alive  the 
memory  of  this  boy.  I  am  only  one  of  sixteen 
memorial  trees  which  are  planted  along  this  high- 
way. 

"You  see  we  are  all  meant  for  some  purpose.  If 
we  only  do  our  duty,  have  patience,  are  cheerful 
and  contented,  and  exert  ourselves  to  the  utmost 
to  help  not  only  our  own  condition  but  that  of 
others  as  well,  we  shall  all  add  our  bit  to  making  the 
world  better  and  more  beautiful,"  sagely  concluded 
Hard  Maple.  "Now  let's  all  stand  at  attention  while 
Bob  White  whistles  The  Star-Spangled  Banner.' " 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY 

T  TELLO,  Sonny!  When  did  you  arrive?"  asked 
Big  Hackberry  Tree  of  a  new  arrival  that  had 
just  been  planted  on  the  other  side  of  the  fence. 

"I  was  planted  here  early  this  morning.  Perhaps 
before  you  were  awake.  I  am  a  Memorial  Tree," 
replied  Young  Walnut  Tree.  "Happy  Jack  the 
fox  squirrel  planted  the  walnut  a  few  years  ago 
from  which  I  grew,  and  as  I  later  became  an  at- 
tractive looking  fellow,  I  was  selected  for  this  pur- 
pose. I  expect  to  grow  up  to  be  as  big  a  tree  as 
you  are,  but  that  will  take  a  long  time.  I  wonder 
how  old  you  are,  anyway,"  continued  the  young 
sapling,  as  he  looked  up  at  the  great  tree,  which 
stood  in  the  center  of  the  beautiful  road  with  a 
concrete  highway  built  on  either  side.  The  great 
tree,  fifteen  feet  in  circumference  and  towering  a 
hundred  feet  in  the  air,  stood  like  a  sentinel  and 
guard  over  the  entrance  to  the  big  farm. 

"Well,  young  fellow,  I  am  quite  a  little  over  one 
hundred  years  old,  as  near  as  I  can  remember. 
When  I  first  started  to  grow  here,  this  country 

66 


"g 

3) 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    67 

looked  mighty  different  from  what  it  does  now. 
You  say  that  you  are  a  Memorial  Tree.  Now  just 
what  is  that?" 

"During  the  Great  War  sixteen  of  the  boys  who 
had  worked  on  the  big  farm,  and  who  were  working 
here  at  that  time,  were  engaged  in  the  task  of 
whipping  the  Huns.  Some  of  these  boys  returned 
and  are  again  at  their  work,  while  some  of  them  will 
never  come  back.  The  owner  of  the  big  farm  de- 
cided to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  each  one  of  these 
boys  by  planting  a  tree  in  his  honor;  therefore  we 
are  planted  here  this  morning  for  that  purpose,  each 
one  representing  an  American  soldier  and  an  em- 
ployee of  the  big  farm,"  explained  Young  Walnut. 

"Well,  tell  me.  Did  the  boy  you  represent  come 
back?"  queried  Big  Hackberry. 

"Yes.  He  was  brought  back.  He  made  the 
supreme  sacrifice.  He  was  killed  in  action,  October 
10,  1918,  in  France,  in  an  early  morning  attack  by 
the  American  Army,  but  he  was  recently  returned, 
to  be  buried  in  his  native  land,"  quietly  explained 
the  Memorial  Tree. 

"Well,  I  hope  you  will  grow  to  be  a  great  tree,  just 
as  the  boy  you  represent  grew  to  be  a  great  fighter. 
I  can  think  of  no  more  commendable  way  of  honor- 
ing an  American  hero  than  planting  a  fine  tree  to 


68  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

his  memory,  and  I  wish  you  a  long  life  of  happiness 
and  usefulness,"  said  Big  Hackberry. 

"I  can  remember  the  time  when  I  was  young  like 
you,  before  the  white  men  came  to  this  country. 
The  Indians  then  roamed  these  forests  and  prairies 
unmolested.  Their  campfires  many  nights  were 
lighted  just  where  you  are  now  standing.  This 
stream  that  now  nearly  runs  dry  in  summer  was 
quite  a  small  river  then;  it  never  became  dry  or 
even  very  low  until  all  the  forests  were  cut  away. 
In  the  summer  time  this  high  bank  along  the  stream 
was  a  favorite  camping  place  for  the  Indians  when 
they  came  here  to  fish.  The  finest  kind  of  fish  were 
in  all  these  streams  at  that  time  and  the  Indians 
were  not  the  only  fishermen. 

"In  the  daytime  the  kingfisher  could  be  seen 
sitting  over  the  water  on  a  dead  limb  of  the  big  oak 
tree,  and  all  at  once  he  would  drop  like  a  shot,  to 
emerge  from  the  water  with  a  wiggling  chub.  Then, 
as  he  attempted  to  return  to  his  lookout  perch  on 
the  oak  tree  to  partake  of  his  feast,  the  fish  hawk 
who  had  been  watching  the  proceedings  would  rush 
him,  compelling  him  to  drop  the  chub,  which  would 
be  caught  in  mid-air  before  it  reached  the  water.  At 
night  the  mink,  otter  and  marten  would  slink  along 
the  banks  of  the  stream,  carefully  working  their 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    69 

way  along  the  old  sunken  logs  lying  along  the  edge 
of  the  water,  and,  locating  the  catfish,  pike,  bass, 
and  suckers  that  had  stopped  in  the  shadows  of  the 
old  logs,  they  would  have  no  trouble  whatever  in 
having  a  fish  dinner  any  evening.  The  great  blue 
heron  would  wade  out  on  the  shallow  sand  bars  in  a 
stately  fashion,  and  become  a  motionless  statue  in 
the  rippling  waters.  Suddenly  the  long  blue  neck 
would  flash  like  a  coiled  spring  and  a  shining  min- 
now would  come  from  the  water  on  the  points  of 
that  spear-like  bill. 

"The  wild  ducks,  that  now  go  to  the  wilderness 
of  the  north  to  rear  their  young,  found  the  same 
conditions  here  then,  and  in  the  autumn  the  streams 
and  lakes  were  covered  with  wild  fowl  of  all  kinds. 
Prairie  chicken  and  quail  seemed  to  be  everywhere 
along  the  edge  of  the  timber,  and  in  the  early  morn- 
ing the  booming  of  the  big  prairie  roosters  could 
be  heard  in  the  distance,  as  the  hum  of  many  swarms 
of  bees. 

"In  the  mornings  the  wild  turkey  gobbler  would 
lead  his  flock  from  the  timber  out  to  the  edge  of 
the  prairie  to  feed  on  the  grasshoppers  and  the 
crickets,  the  wild  strawberries  and  the  wild  grapes 
which  grew  in  abundance  near  the  alder  thickets 
on  the  hillsides.  They  would  return  at  night  and 


70  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

fly  up  in  the  trees  to  roost,  thus  avoiding  the  night 
prowlers,  such  as  foxes,  wolves,  wildcats  and  others 
which,  intent  upon  their  evening  meal,  slipped 
silently  across  the  moonlight  patches  to  the  shelter- 
ing shadows  formed  by  the  bushes  and  trees. 

"The  lordly  buck  deer,  who  would  lie  in  the  shade 
of  the  protecting  hazel  bushes  during  the  day,  would 
lead  his  family  at  nightfall  out  to  the  grassy  pas- 
tures that  stretched  miles  to  the  north  and  west. 
The  wolves  would  at  times  follow  hot  on  the  trail 
of  the  deer,  but  while  the  fawns  were  so  young  that 
they  were  unable  to  escape,  their  mothers  hid  them 
before  leaving  the  timber,  and  as  they  gave  off  no 
scent  whatever  while  young,  the  wolves  were  unable 
to  locate  them.  The  little  fellows  would  remain 
perfectly  motionless  while  the  wildcats  and  other 
dangerous  enemies  would  pass  by  within  a  few  steps, 
unsuspecting  that  such  a  wonderful  dinner  lay  so 
close  at  hand. 

"Those  were  wonderful  days.  The  Indians  of 
various  tribes  would  meet  here  under  these  big  trees 
for  the  purpose  of  dividing  the  territory  for  hunting 
and  fishing.  They  would  have  games  in  the  day- 
time and  dances  around  the  campfires  at  night. 
Speaking  of  great  fighters  reminds  me  of  an  expe- 
rience I  shall  never  forget. 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    71 

"In  one  of  the  tribes  that  lived  on  the  banks  of 
the  stream  here,  there  was  a  beautiful  maiden,  the 
daughter  of  the  chief.  She  was  very  much  in  love 
with  one  of  the  young  men,  one  of  the  great  hunters 
of  the  tribe.  Many  times  he  carried  her  across  the 
stream,  with  the  water  shoulder  deep,  to  the  other 
side  where  he  picked  wild  strawberries  for  her  in 
the  spring,  raspberries  and  blackberries  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  hazel  nuts  in  the  fall.  They  became 
in  love  with  each  other. 

"One  day  a  visiting  tribe  came  to  hunt  and  fish 
here,  and  to  establish  friendly  relations.  In  this 
tribe  was  a  young  warrior,  the  son  of  the  chief,  who 
fell  madly  in  love  with  the  maiden  at  first  sight. 
Within  a  week  he  had  made  such  ardent  love  to 
her,  and  had  deliberately  crossed  the  path  of  our 
mighty  hunter  so  many  times,  that  serious  trouble 
was  imminent. 

"One  evening,  while  the  whole  world  was 
wrapped  in  gorgeous  moonlight,  the  three  met 
as  if  by  appointment  on  that  high  bank  by  the 
stream  and  there  under  the  big  walnut  tree  ar- 
ranged to  decide  whether  the  hunter  or  the  warrior 
should  take  the  Indian  maiden.  It  was  left  to  her 
to  decide,  so  with  the  sportsman  instinct  of  her  race 
she  said  that  the  one  who  first  swam  the  river  and 


72  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

returned  to  her  with  a  bough  of  the  flowering 
dogwood  that  grew  on  the  opposite  bank  could  claim 
her  as  his  bride.  The  two  mighty  men — the  great 
kind-hearted  hunter,  and  the  sinister,  ferocious 
looking  warrior — plunged  into  the  stream  swollen 
by  the  recent  spring  rains,  and,  battling  with  the 
strong  current,  began  the  race  to  the  opposite  shore 
and  return. 

"The  hunter,  with  his  greater  experience,  by  keep- 
ing his  body  at  an  angle  with  the  current  was  able 
to  forge  ahead  of  his  opponent  and  was  soon  seen 
climbing  the  opposite  shore  and  cutting  off  the 
cherished  token  of  victory.  The  beaten  warrior  was 
not  far  behind,  and  had  not  as  yet  admitted  defeat, 
so  when  the  hunter  plunged  back  into  the  swirling 
waters  with  the  dogwood  blossoms,  he  found  him- 
self face  to  face  with  a  villainous  red-skinned  war- 
rior who,  with  his  knife  in  his  teeth,  was  contesting 
his  return.  With  determination  and  revengeful 
defeat  written  on  his  face,  he  made  a  rush  at  the 
hunter,  who  avoided  the  first  thrust,  but  while  the 
token  of  victory  he  was  carrying  in  his  teeth  meant 
life's  happiness  to  him,  yet  it  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  his  undoing,  for  it  momentarily  blinded 
him  just  as  the  enraged  warrior  made  the  second  and 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    73 

successful  lunge  at  him,  when  he  drove  his  hunting 
knife  deep  into  the  lithe  body  of  the  hunter. 

"With  his  life-blood  mingling  with  the  turbid 
waters  of  the  river,  he  released  his  hold  on  the  spray 
of  flowers.  This  the  warrior  quickly  seized  and 
swam  back  with  it  to  the  waiting  Indian  maiden. 
As  she  saw  this  man  returning  to  her  with  the  token 
of  victory,  when  she  had  seen  her  lover  climb  the 
opposite  bank  in  the  dim  moonlight  and  cut  it  from 
the  tree,  she  knew  at  once  that  the  commotion  in 
the  water  at  the  farther  edge  of  the  stream  and  the 
fact  that  only  one  came  back,  meant  that  something 
terrible  had  happened.  So  walking  out  into  the 
water  knee-deep,  she  met  the  warrior,  who  gave  her 
the  spray  of  dogwood  blossoms,  and,  quick  as  a  flash 
of  avenging  lightning,  she  drew  from  her  buckskin 
tunic  her  own  hunting  knife,  and  drove  it  deep  into 
the  warrior's  treacherous  heart. 

"Thinking  that  possibly  she  might  find  her  lover, 
she  followed  the  stream  down  beyond  the  big  bend, 
and  there,  lodged  against  a  log  drift,  she  found  him, 
more  dead  than  alive.  With  the  blood  of  the  hunter 
and  the  warrior  mingling  with  the  moonlit  waters 
of  the  stream,  the  Indian  maiden  proclaimed  the 
name  of  the  river  to  be  the  Vermilion,  a  name  which 


74  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

has  remained  with  it  to  this  day.  She  swam  to 
him  and  by  superhuman  effort  managed  to  get  him 
to  shore,  and  eventually  to  camp,  where  she  related 
the  circumstances  which  precipitated  a  great  battle 
between  the  two  tribes.  They  fought  for  days  and 
days  all  over  this  country  and  it  finally  ended  in  the 
visiting  tribe  being  practically  wiped  out.  I  was 
quite  young  at  the  time,  but  it  was  so  terrible  and 
so  treacherous  that  I  remember  vividly  every  detail 
of  those  exciting  days. 

"A  few  years  later  the  white  men  came  to  this 
country  and  after  several  battles  with  the  Indians 
they  drove  the  red  men  out,  leaving  the  white  man 
in  possession  of  this  beautiful  country. 

"Then  the  cattle-men  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
followed  the  pioneers  into  this  locality  and  one  day, 
about  ninety  years  ago,  a  man  riding  a  large  bay 
horse  stopped  to  rest  under  my  very  branches,  that 
afforded  such  good  shade. 

"It  was  very  warm,  and  from  the  appearance  of 
his  horse  I  judged  he  had  come  a  long  way.  He 
was  a  tall,  straight  young  man,  keen-eyed,  and 
seemed  to  be  much  interested  in  his  surroundings. 
It  was  the  first  tune  I  had  ever  seen  a  man  ride  a 
horse  with  a  saddle — which  he  had  removed  to  allow 
the  horse  to  rest — as  the  Indians  all  rode  bareback. 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    75 

After  walking  around  quite  a  while,  going  to  the 
north  some  distance,  he  returned  to  his  horse,  now 
fully  rested.  After  adjusting  the  saddle  and 
affectionately  patting  him  on  the  neck,  he  mounted 
and  rode  away  in  the  direction  from  which  he  had 
come. 

"A  few  days  later,  one  beautiful  afternoon  the 
same  man  on  the  big  bay  horse  returned  and  with 
him  was  a  young  woman  mounted  on  a  wonderful 
black  mare,  whose  glossy  coat  shone  like  ebony. 
The  two  young  people  seemed  to  be  very  much 
attached  to  each  other,  and  also  to  be  intensely 
interested  in  the  new  and  beautiful  country.  They 
rode  all  around,  looking  the  country  over  from 
different  points,  and  just  before  leaving  they  stopped 
directly  where  you  are  now  planted.  There  in  the 
light  of  the  October  sunset,  as  the  golden  and  crim- 
son rays  filtered  through  the  leaves  of  the  hard 
maple  tree  and  lighted  up  the  gorgeous  brown  hair 
of  the  young  woman,  whose  poke  bonnet  had  fallen 
to  her  shoulders,  the  young  man  rode  to  her  side  and, 
placing  his  arm  around  her,  drew  her  to  him  in  a 
long,  loving  embrace.  At  the  same  time  the  big 
bay  horse  and  the  beautiful  black  mare  affection- 
ately rubbed  their  noses  together  with  a  mutual 
understanding.  Only  a  few  days  elapsed  when  sev- 


76  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

eral  men  came  and  began  building  a  house,  cutting 
trees  and  hewing  out  the  logs  and  soon  they  had  a 
home  constructed  that  is  a  part  of  the  cottage  you 
see  across  the  road,  although  it  has  been  rebuilt 
many  tunes. 

"Then  followed  years  of  new  activities.  The  road 
which  had  been  cut  through  the  timber  from  the 
east  was  extended  farther  west.  More  houses  were 
built.  Prairie  was  broken  by  plowing  with  three  and 
four  yoke  of  oxen.  Grains  were  planted  and  har- 
vested. Cattle  were  raised  in  droves  of  thousands, 
that  grazed  all  over  the  prairie  in  summer  and 
sheltered  in  the  timber  during  the  winter. 

"Now,  I  suppose  you  would  like  to  know  who  the 
young  man  and  woman  were.  Well,  they  were  the 
grandfather  and  grandmother  of  the  man  who  owns 
the  big  farm — the  man  of  the  third  generation — 
and  during  the  winter  the  other  grandfather,  who 
lived  just  a  few  miles  away,  would  come  over  and 
they  would  then  go  deer  hunting  for  the  winter's 
supply  of  venison.  It  was  great  to  see  these  two 
young  men,  with  their  sled,  drive  out  through  the 
timber  over  the  freshly  fallen  snow,  and  return  the 
next  day  with  three  or  four  fine  buck  deer  shot  with 
the  long  old-fashioned  flint-lock  rifles  made  by  a 
member  of  their  own  family.  The  venison  was 


H 

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THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    77 

cured  and  smoked  just  as  the  beef  is  cured  and 
smoked  at  the  present  time,  and  for  Thanksgiving 
and  Christmas  dinners  they  would  shoot  wild  tur- 
keys out  of  this  very  tree. 

"Years  went  by  quite  rapidly,  during  which  tune 
the  country  wa,s  developing.  This  road  was  ex- 
tended many  miles  west,  and  people  were  all  the 
while  driving  on  either  side  of  me.  Many  stopped 
here  over  night  in  their  pilgrimages  to  the  Far  West 
to  allow  their  horses  to  rest  for  the  next  day's  jour- 
ney. 

"Later  on,  the  second  generation  took  charge  of 
the  farm,  and  then  conditions  materially  changed. 
A  great  house  was  built,  and  barns  to  house  the 
horses  and  cattle  were  erected.  More  land  was 
acquired  and  put  into  cultivation,  while  thousands 
of  cattle  were  driven  to  market  along  this  very  road. 

"Then  years  later  the  third  generation  came  into 
being  one  day  in  the  big  house.  I  can  see  him  now 
as  a  small  boy  with  his  grandfather  going  along  the 
stream,  the  same  stream  and  the  same  place  where 
the  Indian  warrior  and  hunter  raced  across  the  river 
for  the  Indian  maiden.  The  great  pioneer  and  deer 
hunter,  aged  and  bent,  carried  the  fish  poles,  while 
the  young  fellow  was  trotting  along  behind  with  the 
can  of  worms,  stopping  at  the  deep  hole  at  the  roots 


78  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

of  the  old  sycamore  tree,  then  joyously  returning  for 
dinner  with  a  long  string  of  catfish,  pike,  and  bass. 

"Other  years  followed.  The  first  and  second 
generations  had  passed  to  their  reward.  The  third 
generation  is  now  in  active  control  of  the  big  farm 
and  has  been  very  energetic  in  beautifying  the  road- 
ways and  creating  a  permanent  pavement  that  you 
see.  When  this  wonderful  pavement  was  con- 
structed I  felt  sure  that  I  was  going  to  lose  my  life 
and,  had  it  not  been  for  this  man  of  the  third 
generation,  I  would  not  be  here  to-day.  The  men 
in  charge  of  the  work  insisted  that  I  be  removed 
from  the  center  of  the  road,  but  my  friend  said  that 
so  long  as  he  lived  on  that  farm  enough  men  could 
not  be  crowded  around  that  tree  to  take  it  out. 
However,  he  said  that  if  they  would  leave  me  he 
would  build  a  double  roadway  around  me,  creating 
an  island  which  he  would  plant  to  beautiful  shrubs, 
and  that  he  would  also  beautify  the  entire  roadway 
for  a  mile  in  length.  This  has  been  done,  as  you 
see,  and  has  resulted  in  making  one  of  the  beauty 
spots  of  the  entire  country. 

"Look  there,  young  fellow,"  called  Big  Hackberry 
to  the  young  tree  just  planted,  as  this  man  of  the 
third  generation,  his  wife,  and  the  three  children 
came  strolling  across  the  pavement  to  the  beautiful 


THE  HACKBERRY  TREE  TELLS  HIS  STORY    79 

lawn  under  the  great  trees.  "That's  what  I  call  a 
picture.  There  goes  the  third  and  the  fourth 
generation.  You  and  I  will  see  the  fourth,  the  fifth, 
and  succeeding  generations  come  and  go  here  on 
the  big  farm,  and  I  am  wondering  if  the  coming 
years  will  be  as  full  of  interesting  events  as  those 
of  the  past  have  been. 

"Look  at  our  friend's  wife,  the  pretty  mother  of 
the  fourth  generation,  as  the  evening  sunlight  plays 
on  her  rich  brown  hair.  She  reminds  me  very  much 
of  the  maiden  on  the  beautiful  black  mare  that  day, 
when  ninety  years  ago  the  two  young  people  pledged 
each  other  their  love  in  this  wilderness  garden,  and 
to  think  I  have  seen  all  this  transformed  into  a 
thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  and  happiness  to  everyone 
who  comes  this  way. 

"Don't  tell  me  I  haven't  lived  in  a  wonderful  age, 
young  fellow!  I  have  seen  the  Indian  with  his  two 
poles  hitched  to  his  pony  dragging  his  tent  and  his 
blankets  to  his  places  of  sacred  worship.  I  have 
seen  the  first  generation  go  on  horseback  and  by 
sled  to  the  country  church.  I  have  seen  the  second 
generation  go  to  church  in  the  carriage  and  phaeton, 
and  now  we  see  the  third  and  the  fourth  generations 
going  to  the  same  church  in  high  powered  auto- 
mobiles. 


80  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"But  recently  we  have  seen  our  friend  whirling  a 
mile  high  in  a  great  airplane,  looking  down  on  us 
as  the  eagles  did  during  the  time  when  the  Indians 
were  in  peaceable  control  and  possession  of  all  this 
country,  and  I  wonder  what  can  possibly  happen 
during  the  next  century  to  equal  the  great  events  of 
the  past. 

"However,  young  fellow,  I  really  believe  you  are 
living  in  the  golden  age;  that  the  days  of  great 
opportunity  are  just  ahead;  that  the  wonders  of 
the  past  century  will  be  insignificant  in  comparison 
to  what  we  shall  see  during  the  next,  and  just  be- 
cause you  have  been  planted  to  represent  a  boy  who 
fought  to  make  the  world  better,  that  spirit,  that 
Right  shall  triumph  over  Might,  will  make  this 
nation  a  God-fearing  nation  of  happiness  and  pros- 
perity, the  greatest  nation  on  earth." 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL 

HO  said  it  was  time  to  get  up?  What 's  all 
this  disturbance  about,  anyway?"  angrily 
exclaimed  Wheat  Kernel  one  cold  morning  in  Feb- 
ruary, as  he  slid  down  the  side  of  Farmer  Good's 
big  wheat  bin. 

He  had  been  placed  there  last  August,  during  the 
threshing  season  on  the  big  farm,  had  been  sound 
asleep  all  winter,  and  this  morning  had  been  rudely 
awakened  by  the  men  as  they  started  to  reclean  the 
wheat  for  seeding  purposes.  He  was  thrown  into 
the  fanning  mill,  dropped  through  two  screens  and 
over  another,  and,  after  getting  a  blast  of  air  for  the 
finishing  touch,  he  found  himself  with  the  other 
high-class  plump  kernels  scattered  over  the  barn 
floor.  The  trash,  dirt,  weed  seeds,  and  broken 
kernels  had  all  been  removed,  until  nothing  but  the 
very  elect  remained.  These  were  then  sprayed  with 
a  solution  of  one  pound  of  forty  per  cent  formalin 
to  fifty  gallons  of  water,  for  the  purpose  of  killing 
the  smut  spores  which  might  remain  on  the  kernels. 
After  drying  thoroughly,  the  wheat  was  then  loaded 

81 


82  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

into  the  wagon  by  Oldtimer,  who  drove  out  to  the 
field  which  had  been  properly  prepared  for  seeding, 
including  an  application  of  five  hundred  pounds  of 
steamed  bone  meal — phosphate  fertilizer — to  the 
acre. 

Happy  Hank,  with  his  four  big  horses  hitched  to 
the  twelve-foot  drill,  was  waiting  just  inside  the 
gate,  and  our  kernel  of  wheat  soon  found  himself, 
with  his  other  companions,  dropping  down  a  narrow 
passageway  of  the  drill  into  the  damp  soil  of  the 
big  farm,  where  everything  became  suddenly  quiet. 

Within  a  few  days  the  moisture  of  the  soil  pene- 
trated to  the  embryo  of  the  kernel,  and  as  the 
plumule  started  upward  to  the  light,  so  did  the 
small  rootlets  start  downward,  further  into  the  soil, 
to  gather  plant  food  to  build  the  great  wheat  crop 
that  was  to  be.  Our  kernel  of  spring  wheat  was 
planted  on  St.  Valentine's  Day  in  February,  for 
Farmer  Good  had  found  after  many  years  of  ex- 
perimentation that  early  seeding  produced  much 
greater  yields  than  did  late  seeding,  so  by  March 
first  the  young  plant  was  enjoying  the  beautiful 
sunlight  that  was  beginning  to  warm  up  the  soil 
and  bring  life  to  the  world  again. 

"Hey!  Look  where  you're  going.  Quit  kicking 
dust  in  my  eyes!"  screamed  the  wheat  plant  as  Mr. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL    83 

Rooster,  the  big  prairie  chicken,  awakened  him  one 
morning  by  his  terrible  scratching  and  kicking  of 
dust. 

"Can't  you  let  a  fellow  sleep?  All  you  do  is  to 
fly  down  here  at  daybreak,  strut  around,  make  a 
lot  of  noise,  and  wake  everybody  up.  What  right 
have  you  anyway  in  this  field?'7  grumbled  Wheatlet. 

"Now  don't  get  so  riled  up,  young  feller.  Some 
folks  don't  know  when  they  are  well  off.  If  I  hadn't 
wakened  you  when  I  scratched  that  grub  worm  out 
of  the  ground,  he  would  soon  have  been  working  on 
you,  and  you  would  never  have  seen  the  light  of 
another  day.  However,  you  are  young  and  inexpe- 
rienced, so  I  will  overlook  your  shortcomings,  but 
remember  that  I  am  about  the  best  friend  you  have 
and  time  will  prove  it."  Saying  this,  Mr.  Rooster 
strutted  off,  entirely  dismissing  the  incident,  and 
the  angry  words  of  Wheatlet. 

Several  days  after  this  conversation  took  place, 
Wheatlet  noticed  that  a  stranger  had  taken  up  his 
home  just  a  few  feet  away,  so  one  morning  he  asked 
Mr.  Rooster  who  he  was. 

"That's  Frisky  Gray  the  prairie  squirrel,"  Mr. 
Rooster  informed  him.  "He  burrows  in  the  ground, 
and  has  his  home  down  below  you  about  two  feet. 
Farmer  Good  will  kill  him  if  he  ever  gets  the  chance, 


84  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

because  he  destroys  so  much  grain.  He  ate  a  lot  of 
the  wheat  that  was  planted  here  and  is  now  waiting 
until  the  corn  is  planted  in  the  adjoining  field,  so 
that  he  can  get  another  square  meal." 

"Say,  Mr.  Rooster,  what  is  that  pretty  pink  thing 
on  that  old  dirty  husk  of  corn  lying  on  the  ground? 
I  have  been  watching  it  since  the  last  rain  and  it  is 
growing  larger  and  getting  prettier  every  day." 

The  big  rooster  walked  over  to  the  husk  of  corn, 
and  found  a  partially  rotted  ear  from  the  previous 
year's  crop  still  in  the  husk.  It  was  covered  with  a 
pink  and  yellow  mass  of  mold  spores,  and  as  the 
big  rooster  gave  it  a  lusty  kick,  these  spores  were 
caught  by  the  wind  and  scattered  all  over  that  part 
of  the  field. 

"I  can't  imagine  what  it  is,"  remarked  Mr. 
Rooster,  having  no  idea  that  he  had  done  the  worst 
thing  possible  when  he  scattered  the  growing  mass 
off  the  old  corn  husk. 

Some  of  the  flying  fusarium  spores  from  the  husk 
— for  this  is  what  they  were — found  lodgment  on  the 
wheat  plants,  others  fell  at  the  roots  of  plants  and 
succeeding  rains  carried  them  down  to  the  root  hairs, 
which  in  taking  up  moisture  and  plant  food  carried 
these  spores  up  through  the  canals  of  plant  stems 
to  the  young  wheat  heads  that  were  just  forming. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL    85 

This  happened  to  the  plant  just  adjoining  Wheat- 
let  and  with  whom  he  had  become  fast  friends.  One 
day  his  friend  complained  of  feeling  badly.  The 
young  head  of  wheat  just  forming  took  on  a  with- 
ered appearance,  while  one  of  the  new  kernels  began 
to  turn  pink.  A  few  days  later  several  more  kernels 
on  this  head  turned  the  pinkish  color,  just  as  the 
old  husk  on  the  ground  had,  and  all  the  time  the 
voice  of  the  diseased  plant  became  weaker,  until  one 
day  all  signs  of  life  ceased  and  Wheatlet  was  unable 
to  get  any  response  whatever.  The  entire  head  of 
wheat  had  now  become  a  mass  of  pink  mold,  and 
all  around  him  Wheatlet  could  see  other  plants 
similarly  affected. 

However,  Mr.  Rooster  couldn't  explain  it,  nor 
could  Bob  White,  Peter  Rabbit,  or  Meadow  Lark 
unravel  the  mystery. 

Then  one  day  Farmer  Good  came  through  the 
field  and  in  his  hand  he  held  some  wheat  plants  that 
had  the  same  appearance  as  Wheatlet's  friend.  He 
came  direct  to  the  spot  and,  reaching  down,  pulled 
out  his  diseased  friend  by  the  roots  and  carried  him 
away.  The  next  day,  in  conversation  with  Bob 
White,  Wheatlet  told  Bob  all  about  the  incident. 

"Well,  Farmer  Good  is  a  wonder  when  it  comes  to 
finding  out  things,"  remarked  Bob  White.  "He  will 


86  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

locate  the  trouble  and  we  shall  know  all  about  it 
some  time.  He  is  having  trouble  in  another  field 
where  your  cousin  Winter  Wheat  is  growing.  I  am 
helping  all  I  can,  but  Chinch  Bug  and  Hessian  Fly 
are  causing  a  lot  of  damage,  as  there  are  so  many 
of  them.  I  have  told  all  my  friends  and  relatives 
about  it,  and  to-morrow  we  are  going  to  make  a  raid 
on  them.  They  are  mighty  good  eating  just  at  this 
season  of  the  year;  besides  it  is  a  great  help  to 
Farmer  Good  to  get  rid  of  them. 

"Food  is  a  great  thing,"  Bob  White  continued. 
"We  couldn't  get  along  without  it.  Now  I  like  bugs. 
They  are  my  main  diet,  yet  we  must  have  something 
else  to  balance  our  ration.  Now  you  are  just  the 
same  way.  In  order  to  make  a  great  crop  you  must 
be  fed  the  proper  elements  of  plant  food.  A  good 
example  of  this  is  a  field  of  wheat  belonging  to 
Farmer  Shiftless  down  the  road  a  mile,  that  is  liter- 
ally starving  to  death.  He  never  has  grown  a  crop 
of  clover  to  furnish  nitrogen,  neither  has  he  applied 
limestone  to  furnish  calcium  and  magnesium ;  while 
as  far  as  rock  phosphate,  acid  phosphate,  or  bone 
meal  to  provide  phosphorus  are  concerned,  he  ridi- 
cules the  idea.  Therefore  right  now,  while  the 
wheat  plants  need  the  phosphorus  to  build  the 
kernels,  the  roots  find  that  other  crops  have  taken 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL    87 

all  this  necessary  food  out  of  the  soil  and  they  are 
just  yelling  their  heads  off  for  something  to  live  on. 
They  are  all  very  weak.  Many  have  died,  while 
most  of  the  heads  of  wheat  are  very  small. 

"But  over  here  there  is  a  very  different  story. 
This  field  is  just  filled  with  all  the  best  plant  food 
imaginable.  When  you  needed  nitrogen  to  build 
the  stalk,  the  roots  just  heaped  the  food  on  you  that 
made  you  a  great  strong  plant.  Now  when  you 
needed  phosphorus  to  produce  the  big  plump  ker- 
nels, all  you  had  to  do  was  to  tell  the  roots  to  gather 
the  phosphorus  from  the  bone  meal  that  was  put 
on  the  field  this  spring,  and  you  had  a  regular  ban- 
quet. Farmer  Good  feeds  the  crops  through  the 
soil,  then  he  has  enough  left  over  to  feed  us  for 
helping  catch  the  bugs  and  worms  that  would  injure 
you,"  concluded  Bob  White. 

A  few  days  later  the  field  began  to  assume  a  new 
color.  The  vivid  green  of  the  spring  was  changing 
to  a  greenish  yellow.  The  wheat  was  in  bloom.  The 
odor  could  be  detected  everywhere,  and  Bob  White 
and  Mr.  Rooster  knew  that  soon  the  fields  would 
be  covered  with  shattered  grain,  affording  them  a 
great  feast.  The  following  week  the  wheat  field 
turned  a  beautiful  golden  yellow,  and  early  one 
morning,  after  the  dewdrops  had  been  chased  away 


88  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

by  the  brilliant  rays  of  the  morning  sun  as  it  rose 
over  the  great  corn  fields  to  the  east,  a  noise  was 
heard  at  the  far  corner  of  the  field.  The  noise 
became  louder  as  the  big  machines  came  closer,  until 
at  last  the  big  gas  tractor  drawing  two  big  harvesters 
rushed  by  and  our  Wheatlet,  now  a  full  grown 
beautiful  head  of  wheat,  was  cut  and  bound  with 
others  and  soon  placed  upright  by  the  automatic 
shocking  machine  in  a  symmetrical  shock  containing 
nine  sheaves.  The  harvest  was  soon  over,  and  the 
big  field  was  a  wonderful  sight  with  its  thousands 
of  beautiful  shocks. 

"Well,  this  is  much  more  comfortable,"  remarked 
Mr.  Rooster  one  morning,  as  he  brought  his  family 
over  to  the  shock  where  Wheatlet  was,  wondering 
what  would  happen  next.  With  this  remark  Mr. 
Rooster  and  his  lady  flew  to  the  top  of  the  shock, 
while  the  young  chicks  played  among  the  young 
clover  plants  in  the  stubble,  caught  grasshoppers, 
and  picked  up  shattered  kernels  of  wheat. 

"Before  you  go  away,  Mr.  Wheatlet,  I  want  to 
thank  you  for  the  protection  you  gave  me  until  I 
could  get  started  right,"  thankfully  remarked  young 
Clover  Plant. 

"It's  strange  how  dependent  we  are  on  each 
other,"  he  continued.  "Here  I  have  been  depending 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  WHEAT  KERNEL    89 

on  Wheatlet.  Mr.  Rooster  and  Bob  White  were 
looking  after  him,  and  Farmer  Good  was  furnishing 
food  and  protection  for  us  all.  I  wonder  who  looks 
after  Farmer  Good,"  he  mused. 

"It  must  be  He  who  brings  the  sunshine  and  the 
rain,  and  puts  all  the  good  things  here  for  our  use, 
who  gave  us  all  life;  and  a  disposition  and  ability 
to  work  for  the  welfare  and  comfort  of  each  other," 
thoughtfully  replied  Mr.  Rooster. 

Just  at  this  time  Farmer  Good  and  some  strange 
men  came  into  the  field  and  after  thoroughly  in- 
specting the  grain  Farmer  Good  said: 

"Yes,  this  is  a  certified  field  of  pure-bred  Marquis 
Spring  Wheat,  and  I  can  deliver  it  threshed  and 
recleaned  to  you  by  next  January  at  Amiens  in  time 
for  spring  seeding." 

After  quite  a  lengthy  conversation,  the  discussion 
came  to  a  successful  conclusion  and  as  the  men  went 
off,  Mr.  Rooster,  who  had  remained  hidden  under 
the  clover  plants  a  short  distance  away,  came  over 
to  the  shock  toward  Wheatlet  and  remarked,  "Do 
you  realize  what  it  all  means?  That  strange  man 
is  the  French  Agricultural  Attache  in  this  country, 
representing  the  French  farmers.  He  has  purchased 
all  the  wheat  in  this  field,  to  be  used  in  seeding  the 
battle  fields  of  France.  You  are  to  be  shipped  to 


90  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

Amiens,  in  Northern  France  and  will  be  sown  on 
the  battlefields  of  Flanders.  Luck  to  you,  my 
friend,  and  here's  hoping  that  you  will  help  to  make 
that  heroic  country  what  you  have  helped  make  this 
great  republic." 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS 


Oh  my!  I  wonder  what  is  the  matter 
with  me.  I  can  hardly  move/'  cried  Stripes, 
the  striped  ground  squirrel,  one  day  in  April,  as  he 
tried  to  unroll  from  the  ball  he  had  formed  himself 
into  last  October  when  he  went  into  his  long  sleep. 
He  was  nearly  two  feet  under  ground,  in  a  nice  warm 
nest  which  he  had  constructed,  and  here  he  had 
passed  the  winter.  His  sleeping  chamber  had  been 
carefully  carpeted  with  soft  grasses,  while  an  ad- 
joining subterranean  chamber  had  been  set  apart  for 
storage  of  his  food  during  inclement  weather.  Here 
he  had  cached  kernels  of  corn  he  had  taken  from 
Farmer  Johnson's  corn  field.  The  wheat  heads 
which  were  cut  by  his  sharp  teeth  from  the  nearby 
wheat  field  were  also  placed  here,  as  were  the  roots 
and  grasses  of  the  pasture. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  he  had  grown  quite 
sleek  and  fat,  so  one  chilly,  rainy  day  in  October  he 
decided  he  would  take  a  nap,  and  before  he  knew  it 
he  fell  fast  asleep,  so  sound  asleep  that  he  did  not 
awaken  until  the  warm  April  sun  had  warmed 

91 


92  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

mother  earth  to  such  an  extent  that  the  violets  were 
all  in  bloom  and  the  cold,  bleak  winter  was  a  thing 
of  the  past. 

This  day  of  spring  had  induced  great  activity  in 
the  animal  and  bird  world,  and  the  mole,  in  working 
out  a  new  runway,  dug  into  the  tunnel  of  the 
squirrel.  He  decided  he  would  learn  what  was  at 
the  other  end  of  the  new  passageway,  therefore  he 
ran  into  the  squirrel  just  as  he  was  awakening  from 
his  long  sleep.  "Hello,  Stripes!  What's  the  matter? 
Going  to  sleep  all  summer,  too?  You  had  better  get 
out  and  stir  yourself,  as  your  home  is  all  caved  in," 
commented  the  mole. 

"I  just  fell  asleep  yesterday,  but  I  never  awakened 
so  stiff  in  all  my  life.  I  was  over  in  the  corn  field 
getting  some  corn  to  keep  me  over  winter  and  being 
tired  I  slept  longer  than  I  thought.  My!  I  am  so 
skinny  and  poor.  What  is  the  matter  with  me,  any- 
way? There  surely  is  something  wrong,"  exclaimed 
Stripes. 

"No,  nothing  wrong  at  all,"  returned  the  mole; 
"only  that  you  have  been  asleep  all  winter.  While 
the  ground  was  frozen  hard  and  covered  with  snow, 
you  have  been  down  here  having  a  good  snooze," 
the  mole  explained. 

"Snow?    You  say  the  ground  was  covered  with 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS       93 

snow?  What's  that?  You  mean  to  tell  me  I  have 
slept  all  through  the  winter  and  it  is  now  spring?" 
queried  the  squirrel. 

"Well!  Well!  And  I  have  always  wanted  a 
better  pair  of  eyes,  and  a  lot  of  other  things,  but 
here  is  a  poor  fool  with  good  eyes  and  a  chance  to 
see  the  world,  yet  he  gets  down  here  in  a  hole  and 
sleeps  half  of  his  life  away.  Never  heard  of  snow. 
Couldn't  tell  what  it  was  if  he  met  it  coming  down 
the  road.  If  I  had  the  eyes  you  have  I  surely  would 
get  out  and  see  the  world  winter  as  well  as  summer," 
lectured  the  mole,  and  he  became  so  disgusted  that 
he  returned  to  his  own  work  of  making  new  runways. 

This  kind  of  talk  served  the  purpose  of  bringing 
the  squirrel  to  life,  and  he  then  started  for  the 
sunlight.  However,  his  exit  had  become  jammed 
by  the  horses  walking  over  the  place  in  the  early 
spring  while  the  ground  was  soft,  so  he  had  to  dig 
quite  a  bit  in  order  to  get  out.  Then  all  at  once 
the  sweet  pure  air  rushed  in  through  the  opening, 
the  April  sunshine  struck  him  fairly  in  the  face, 
nearly  blinding  him,  and  with  the  exertion  of  gain- 
ing an  exit  in  his  weakened  condition  he  was  quite 
exhausted.  He  waited  a  few  moments  until  his 
eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  intense  light,  then 
cautiously  emerged  from  his  den. 


94  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"Yes;  I  surely  have  been  asleep  a  long  time.  The 
pastures  were  brown  when  I  went  to  sleep  and  now 
they  are  a  beautiful  green.  And  where  is  the  corn 
field?  When  I  last  saw  it  yesterday  I  was  taking 
corn  kernels  in  my  pockets  from  the  stalks  and 
carrying  them  down  home,  and  now  everything  is 
gone  and  an  oat  field  is  in  its  place/'  wondered 
Stripes  to  himself.  "I  surely  have  missed  some- 
thing/' he  admitted  at  last. 

"I  wonder  where  everyone  is.  Guess  I  will  give 
them  a  call,"  he  said  as  he  raised  himself  on  his 
hind  legs  and  used  his  chirping  call.  First  there 
was  no  response;  then  he  gave  his  peculiar  trilling 
whistle,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  Peter 
Rabbit. 

"Why,  hello,  Stripes!  First  time  I  have  seen  you 
or  any  of  your  crowd  for  an  age.  Where  have  you 
been  for  the  past  six  months?  I  see  you  still  have 
your  thirteen  stripes  all  right,  but  you  look  badly. 
Had  anything  to  eat  lately?"  asked  Peter. 

"Say,  Peter,  do  you  know  what  snow  is?  Did  you 
ever  see  it?"  asked  Stripes. 

"Do  I  know  what  snow  is?  Oh!  Boy!  Say, 
Stripes,  I  live  from  one  year  to  another  just  for 
snow.  Ho!  Ho!  That's  a  good  one,  asking  a  rabbit 


"Who  said  I  couldn't  walk  on  two  feet?" 
"I  should  say  I  know  what  snow  is,"  said  Peter  Rabbit. 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS       95 

if  he  knows  what  snow  is.  Say,  go  over  and  ask 
Mallard  Duck  if  he  knows  what  water  is,"  and 
Peter  laughed  so  hard  that  he  had  to  hold  his  sides, 
and  made  so  much  fuss  that  Billy  Skunk,  who  had 
been  destroying  a  nest  of  field  mice  over  by  the 
hedge  fence,  came  over  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 

When  Stripes  saw  Billy  Skunk  coming  over,  he 
dodged  back  into  his  hole,  just  leaving  his  head  out, 
as  he  knew  that  Billy  would  not  hesitate  a  moment 
to  eat  him  if  he  had  the  chance.  He  knew  that  Billy 
was  a  mighty  good  friend  of  the  farmer,  as  his  food 
consisted  mainly  of  mice,  field  rats,  grasshoppers, 
crickets,  May  beetles,  wasps,  and  larvae  of  all  kinds, 
also  lizards,  snakes,  frogs,  and  chickens  when  he 
could  get  them,  and  he  knew  that  he  would  also 
like  squirrel,  so  he  was  taking  no  chances. 

"Say,  Billy.  Here's  a  good  one.  Stripes  wants 
to  know  if  I  ever  saw  snow.  Me,  a  rabbit!  Ho!  Ho! 
You  tell  him,  I  can't,"  and  Peter  Rabbit  hopped 
away  convulsed  with  laughter. 

It  was  so  funny  to  Billy  Skunk  that  he  opened 
his  big  mouth,  showing  his  sharp  white  teeth,  and 
after  recalling  to  mind  the  big  early  snow  of  the 
past  winter,  wondered  where  anyone  could  have 
been  and  not  have  seen  it.  He  thought  how  ridicu- 


96  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

lous  the  whole  thing  was,  so  he  made  no  answer 
whatever,  but  just  calmly  and  clumsily  waddled  off, 
grinning  to  himself. 

"Well,  that's  funny.  They  won't  even  give  me  an 
answer,  but  just  laugh  themselves  sick  and  walk 
off.  I  wonder  what's  so  amusing  about  it  anyway," 
said  Stripes  to  himself,  all  at  once  coming  to  the 
realization  that  he  had  asked  a  most  foolish  ques- 
tion. He  also  realized  that  he  was  terribly  hungry, 
so  he  ran  over  to  the  old  fence  and  began  tearing 
at  the  roots  of  the  new  spring  grasses.  Then  he 
uncovered  some  May  and  ground  beetles,  as  well  as 
some  white  grubs  hidden  in  the  grass,  which  made 
a  suitable  breakfast. 

He  ran  down  the  fence  to  another  field,  to  see 
what  was  planted  there,  and  found  a  fine  crop  of 
spring  wheat  growing.  Here  he  began  digging  at  the 
roots  of  the  young  and  tender  plants  recently 
sprouted,  and  found  that  the  young  wheat  plants 
were  about  the  best  things  he  had  ever  eaten.  He 
was  so  hungry  that  he  gorged  himself  while  he  had 
the  chance,  and  destroyed  nearly  every  plant  for 
quite  a  small  area,  but  he  satisfied  his  hunger,  re- 
gardless of  what  the  consequences  would  be  to 
Farmer  Johnson. 

While  he  was  busy  with  the  wheat  kernels,  he  was 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS       97 

joined  in  the  work  of  destruction  by  the  big  prairie 
gray  squirrel.  The  big  gray  with  his  powerful  fore- 
paws  soon  made  quick  work  of  the  wheat  plants,  as 
he  was  soon  to  do  with  the  kernels  of  corn  that 
would  be  planted  in  a  nearby  field. 

The  big  gray  was  quite  a  clannish  sort  of  fellow 
and  did  not  mingle  with  the  other  folks  at  all,  so 
he  stuck  strictly  to  his  business  and  did  not  pay  any 
attention  whatever  to  Stripes.  As  he  returned  to 
the  pasture,  after  eating  all  the  wheat  he  could  hold, 
he  encountered  Chubby,  the  field  mouse,  also  en- 
gaged in  taking  his  breakfast  from  the  wheat  field, 
who  upon  seeing  Stripes  rushed  to  the  old  fence  post 
and  dodged  into  a  knot  hole  which  was  the  door  to 
his  home. 

"What's  your  hurry,  Chubby?"  cried  Stripes  after 
him,  as  he  disappeared  in  the  old  post. 

"Just  taking  my  morning  exercise,"  returned 
Chubby,  thrusting  his  head  out  of  the  knot  hole, 
as  he  did  not  want  Stripes  to  know  that  he  was 
afraid  of  him.  He  knew  that  Stripes  would  not  hesi- 
tate- to  kill  him  if  he  was  quite  hungry,  provided 
he  had  a  good  chance,  so  he  was  going  to  see  that 
he  did  not  have  the  opportunity. 

"Say,  Chubby,  when  did  you  move  over  here? 
The  last  time  I  saw  you,  your  home  was  over  near 


98  THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

the  corn  field.     Who  made  you   move?"   asked 
Stripes. 

"Oh!  I  have  had  several  homes  since  then.  You 
see  as  soon  as  Farmer  Johnson  cut  his  corn  and  put 
it  in  the  shock,  I  appropriated  one  of  the  big  ones 
for  my  use.  Talk  about  your  winter  homes!  The 
finest  place  you  ever  saw.  All  the  feed  stored  up 
for  your  use,  and  all  the  work  done.  Snows  did  not 
bother  at  all.  Wind  could  not  get  to  me  and  as  I  had 
all  my  family  and  relatives  with  me,  we  surely  did 
have  a  great  winter,  but  we  didn't  leave  much  corn 
in  that  shock  for  Farmer  Johnson  to  feed  his  cattle. 
My!  How  we  did  eat  and  how  fat  we  were.  Well, 
one  day  the  men  tore  the  shock  down  to  feed  it  to 
the  livestock,  and  then  we  had  to  hunt  new  quarters; 
but,  as  it  happened  on  a  nice  warm  day,  I  ran  over 
to  the  orchard,  and  found  a  good  home  in  a  heavy 
tussock  of  grass  by  the  fence,  quite  close  to  some 
young  apple  trees.  When  the  snow  came  I  tun- 
neled under  the  snow  to  the  apple  trees  and  had  the 
finest  kind  of  food.  Apple  tree  bark  in  the  winter 
is  fine  and  I  surely  did  go  for  those  trees.  Then  as 
spring  came  I  decided  to  return  to  the  field  where 
I  could  get  spring  wheat,  so  finding  this  hollow  post, 
I  created  the  finest  nest  here  you  ever  saw,  and  here 
I  am,"  concluded  Chubby. 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS       99 

"Well,  Chubby,  how  about  the  apple  trees? 
Won't  they  die  now  that  you  have  eaten  all  the  bark 
from  around  the  base  of  the  trees?"  asked  Stripes. 

"Oh !  What  do  I  care?  They  will  plant  more  of 
them.  If  they  don't  want  me  to  kill  their  trees,  let 
them  protect  them,  like  they  do  down  the  road  at 
Farmer  Brown's  place.  There  they  put  wire  netting 
or  tree  protectors  around  them,  so  Peter  Rabbit 
and  my  relatives  can't  get  to  the  trees.  But  so  long 
as  Farmer  Johnson  does  not  learn  how  to  do  these 
things,  why  he'll  just  have  to  lose  his  trees,  that's 
all,"  explained  Chubby. 

"You  are  rather  hard  on  the  farmer,  aren't  you, 
Chubby?  In  fact,  you  are  about  the  worst  pest  he 
has  to  contend  with.  You  eat  his  grains,  grasses, 
and  fruit  trees,  and  gnaw  holes  in  his  grain  sacks, 
but  you  don't  help  him  very  much  by  killing  insects, 
as  some  of  the  rest  of  us  do,"  said  Stripes. 

"Say!  I  wouldn't  brag  about  being  any  great 
help  to  anyone  if  I  were  you,"  returned  Chubby. 

"You  are  the  fellow  who  invented  bad  luck,  did 
you  know  it?  Do  you  know  how  you  got  your 
thirteen  stripes  down  your  back?  You  don't,  do 
you?  Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  Chubby  said. 

"Well,  a  long,  long  time  ago  when  the  animals 
were  created  in  the  garden  by  the  Tigris  and 


100         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

Euphrates  rivers,  they  were  all  colored  alike  at  first. 
But  after  all  were  finished  it  was  decided  to  make 
some  black,  some  white,  some  brown,  some  spotted, 
and  some  with  stripes — in  fact,  to  make  them  so  that 
they  could  be  easily  distinguished  by  each  other. 

"So  one  day,  while  the  Tiger  was  getting  the 
stripes  put  on  his  sides,  and  the  Leopard  was  having 
his  spots  painted,  there  was  a  little  tan  colored 
animal  kept  near  by  to  use  as  a  brush  cleaner,  a 
thing  to  wipe  the  brushes  on.  Well,  after  they  had 
finished  putting  the  last  stripes  on  the  Tiger,  the 
Giraffe,  and  the  Zebra,  the  spots  on  the  Leopard 
and  the  black  on  the  mane  of  the  Lion,  there  was 
a  little  paint  left.  They  gave  this  little  insignificant 
animal  a  few  more  touches  and  so  they  put  on  your 
back  the  unlucky  thirteenth  stripe. 

"This  last  stripe  had  no  more  than  been  added 
when  you,  all  puffed  up  at  being  thus  decorated, 
tried  to  be  exceedingly  bright.  You  kicked  Old 
Bumble  Buzzer  the  bumble  bee  in  the  face,  and  took 
a  slap  at  Bald  Hornet.  This  made  them  both 
hopping  mad,  and  as  they  had  not  yet  tried  out 
their  new  stingers  they  at  once  proceeded  to  get 
busy. 

"They  both  lit  on  the  Lion  about  the  same  time, 
just  as  he  turned  his  head  and  saw  you  inject  your 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS     101 

bit  of  comedy  into  the  peaceful  scene.  Well,  the 
roar  that  came  from  that  Lion  was  heard  around 
the  world,  and  the  after  effects  are  still  to  be  seen 
everywhere. 

"The  new  stingers  of  Bumble  Buzzer  and  Bald 
Hornet  were  long  and  terribly  sharp,  and  the  pain 
to  the  Lion  was  beyond  description.  The  only  thing 
he  could  think  of  was  to  get  away,  and  bite  some- 
thing as  he  went.  He  bit  the  Elephant,  who  lunged 
into  the  Camel  and  rammed  him  against  a  tree, 
pushing  him  all  together,  and  thus  giving  him  his 
hump.  Then  he  slapped  the  Giraffe,  who  caught 
his  head  in  the  fork  of  a  limb  as  he  ran  under  a 
nearby  tree,  thus  pulling  his  neck  out  to  such  a 
great  length.  Then  the  Lion  bit  the  tail  off  the 
Lynx,  who  in  turn  slapped  the  Wildcat,  which  made 
the  Wildcat  wild. 

"As  the  Elephant  charged  out  of  the  garden  he 
stepped  on  the  tail  of  the  Beaver,  with  the  result 
that  the  Beaver's  tail  has  been  flat  ever  since.  As 
the  Camel  fell  back  from  the  tree  into  which  he  had 
been  rammed  by  the  Elephant,  he  stepped  on  the 
tail  of  Jerry  Muskrat  and  tore  all  the  hair  out,  so 
that  ever  since  Jerry  has  had  no  hair  on  his  tail 
whatever. 

"Well,  matters  went  from  bad  to  worse.    It  was 


_J    *»    a    ,:*.,?»      ?,«•*:>        •       «       ***, 

•»:f^-«  »\\ 

102          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

no  place  for  timid  folks,  and  the  Ox  knew  that  some- 
thing must  be  done,  so  he  blew  his  horn  and  in 
rushed  the  Bear,  just  in  time  to  collide  with  the 
Buffalo.  This  pushed  the  Buffalo  all  up  together, 
so  that  he  is  so  big  in  front  and  small  behind,  while 
the  Bear  got  such  a  sore  head  from  the  collision 
that  he  has  never  recovered  from  it,  and  has  been 
growling  ever  since. 

"Well,  the  Hyena,  who  was  a  very  solemn  sort  of 
fellow,  jumped  up  on  a  big  rock  to  get  out  of  the 
way,  and  the  whole  affair  became  so  amusing  that 
he  began  to  laugh  and  has  so  far  been  unable  to 
stop;  therefore  he  is  called  the  Laughing  Hyena. 

"After  a  while,  everyone  got  out  of  each  other's 
way,  and  as  Bumble  Buzzer  and  Bald  Hornet  had 
about  worked  themselves  to  death  getting  revenge, 
they  decided  to  rest.  Then  the  animals  gathered 
around  after  quiet  had  been  restored  and  wanted 
to  know  who  started  the  trouble.  The  Lion  who 
saw  the  start  of  it  made  his  statement,  which  was 
at  once  accepted  as  the  truth,  so  a  council  was  called 
to  decide  what  should  be  done  with  you. 

"After  arguing  and  discussing  for  a  long  time,  it 
was  decided  to  have  you  spend  half  of  each  year 
under  the  ground  asleep,  while  the  assembling  of 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS      103 

the  animals  takes  place;  therefore  you  have  to 
hibernate  for  the  winter  and  it  has  been  this  way 
all  through  time  and  shall  be  so  long  as  your  race 
lives.  That  is  the  reason  that  last  stripe  on  your 
back  is  unlucky,  because  you  started  all  the  trouble 
that  resulted  so  disastrously  to  the  other  animals," 
concluded  Chubby. 

"Say,  Chubby,  who  on  earth  told  you  that  fairy 
story?"  asked  Stripes. 

"Well,  one  evening  the  Owl  tried  to  get  me  to 
come  out  from  under  a  hollow  stump,  and  promised 
to  tell  me  a  story  if  I  would.  I  told  him  to  tell  me 
the  story  first  and  I  would  think  it  over,  and  this  is 
the  story  he  told  me.  But  I  told  him  that  it  was 
Friday  the  thirteenth  and  I  guessed  I  would  stay  in 
the  old  stump,  as  it  might  be  unlucky  if  I  came  out," 
answered  Chubby. 

"But  where  did  the  Owl  get  the  story?"  asked 
Stripes. 

"Oh!  The  Owl  knows  everything,"  returned 
Chubby.  "I  guess  his  ancestors  were  there  at  the 
time  it  all  happened  and  it  has  been  handed  down  to 
each  generation." 

"Well,  I  don't  believe  my  thirteenth  stripe  is 
unlucky  anyway,  while  I  am  asleep  all  winter,  I 


104         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

don't  miss  much,  so  I  don't  care.  Say,  Chubby, 
what  is  this  they  call  snow?  Tell  me  about  it," 
asked  Stripes. 

"Go  over  and  ask  Old  Bumble  Buzzer  about  it. 
He  is  wild  about  snow.  He  will  give  you  some  sharp 
information  about  it,  if  you  will  approach  him 
right/'  chuckled  Chubby  to  himself,  as  Stripes, 
seeing  the  futility  of  trying  to  get  the  desired  an- 
swer, went  off  toward  home,  muttering  to  himself 
that  Chubby  was  like  all  the  rest. 

It  was  three  months  later  that  one  summer  eve- 
ning Bobby  Coon  left  his  timber  home  near  the 
creek,  and  came  out  through  the  pasture  to  the  corn 
field  in  search  of  the  fresh  young  corn  that  he  liked 
so  well.  As  he  passed  the  home  of  Stripes  he 
stopped  a  moment  in  the  twilight  of  the  evening  and 
called  to  him.  As  Stripes  came  up  to  his  front  door 
and  peered  out,  Bobby  said,  "Hello,  Stripes.  Think 
it  will  snow?"  then  roared  with  laughter,  and  leis- 
urely wended  his  way  on  to  the  corn  field.  The 
story  had  reached  all  the  animals  of  the  country 
by  this  tune,  and  they  were  having  a  lot  of  fun  at 
the  expense  of  Stripes. 

Bobby  found  the  corn  all  right  and  had  a  fine 
feed.  He  then  went  down  to  the  little  brook  at  the 
end  of  the  corn  field  to  get  a  drink.  Here  he  found 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS      105 

Jerry  Muskrat  busy  erecting  a  new  house.  It  was 
about  four  feet  high  and  five  feet  wide,  with  a  dome- 
shaped  interior  that  Jerry  said  was  very  commodi- 
ous. Jerry  and  Bobby  were  quite  good  friends,  so 
Jerry  told  him  all  about  the  interior,  as  Bobby 
couldn't  get  in  to  see;  for  the  two  entrances  were 
accessible  only  from  the  bottom,  and  he  would  have 
to  dive  down  into  the  water,  swim  along  a  passage- 
way, and  then  come  up  inside  the  house.  But  as 
Bobby  was  not  equipped  for  this  kind  of  work,  he 
took  Jerry's  word  for  the  interior.  Jerry  had  made 
the  house  of  sticks,  weeds,  rushes,  and  reeds,  then 
plastered  it  all  solid  with  mud,  after  which  he  had 
lined  the  sleeping  quarters  with  soft  grass.  Here 
he  stored  his  winter  food  supply,  which  usually 
consists  of  roots  and  stems  of  succulent  plants, 
varied  with  fresh  water  clams  and  occasional  fish. 

However,  Jerry  is  careful  to  select  sticks  of  wood 
with  which  to  build  his  house.  These  can  be  used 
during  the  winter  as  food  in  case  of  need,  so  all  the 
shrubs  that  have  a  bark  that  is  pleasing  to  Jerry's 
taste  are  to  be  found  in  his  house. 

While  Bobby  was  talking  to  Jerry  Muskrat,  Billy 
Mink  came  slipping  along  the  bank  and  seeing 
Bobby,  said,  "Going  over  to  Farmer  Brown's  chicken 
house  to-night  for  more  eggs,  Bobby?" 


106          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"How  did  you  know  I  was  over  there?"  questioned 
Bobby. 

"Why,  you  went  out  the  front  door  as  I  entered 
the  back  door  in  search  of  a  fat  pullet,"  admitted 
Billy.  "I  have  been  living  on  mice,  rats,  ground 
squirrels,  chipmunks,  snakes,  frogs,  and  insects  long 
enough,  so  I  am  going  to  have  a  little  chicken  from 
time  to  time,"  Billy  continued. 

"Well,  Billy,  there  is  nothing  like  fresh  eggs,  and 
Farmer  Brown's  eggs  are  always  fresh,  because  I 
see  to  it  that  they  never  get  stale,"  and  Bobby  Coon 
laughed  at  his  joke. 

Johnnie  Chuck,  the  big  woodchuck,  had  his  home 
up  on  the  hillside  near  the  timber  and,  hearing  all 
the  talk  and  laughter  of  Bobby  Coon,  Billy  Mink, 
and  Jerry  Muskrat,  he  came  down  to  see  what  was 
going  on. 

Now  Johnnie  Chuck  had  been  feeding  on  grasses, 
clover,  and  succulent  plants,  as  well  as  the  grain 
crops  of  the  neighborhood,  and  he  didn't  care  for 
eggs.  He  was  not  very  energetic,  so  he  didn't  move 
very  fast,  but  his  ideas  and  his  wisdom  were  held 
in  very  high  regard  by  all  his  other  companions. 

"Well,  Mr.  Weatherman,  what's  in  the  wind?" 
asked  Bobby  Coon  as  the  woodchuck  came  up. 

"Fair  and  warmer,"  returned  Johnnie  Chuck. 


FRIENDLY  ENEMIES,  THE  ANIMALS      107 

"Say,  Bobby,  what  is  this  about  you  and  Billy 
going  over  to  Farmer  Brown's  for  eggs  and  chickens? 
Don't  you  think  he  will  soon  find  out  all  about  you 
two  and  tack  your  skins  on  the  chicken-house  door?" 
asked  Johnnie. 

"Well,  Johnnie,  you  tore  up  his  wheat  crop  for 
him  last  summer  and  I  see  you  are  still  with  us,  so 
I  guess  we  shall  get  through/'  returned  Bobby  Coon. 

"I  guess  we  are  all  in  the  same  boat  when  it  comes 
to  taking  things.  We  all  have  to  live,  and  I  guess 
he  will  have  to  put  up  with  us.  Say,  what  is  this 
joke  I  hear  about  Stripes  the  Ground  Squirrel," 
asked  Johnnie. 

"Why,  Stripes  asked  Peter  Rabbit  if  he  knew  what 
snow  was,  if  he  had  ever  heard  of  it,  and  Peter  has 
told  everyone  and  is  still  laughing  about  it,"  an- 
swered Bobby. 

"Well,  that's  nothing  strange.  You  see  I  am  here 
the  year  around  and  folks  consider  me  a  wise  old 
gink.  They  say  I  am  the  weather  prophet,  yet  I 
rarely  ever  see  snow.  Stripes  and  I  go  to  sleep 
about  the  same  time  in  October  each  year.  He  does 
not  awaken  until  all  danger  of  snow  and  freezing 
is  over,  but  I  have  to  get  up  on  the  second  of 
February  to  regulate  the  weather  for  the  coming 
spring.  So  when  that  day  arrives  and  there  is  snow 


108          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

on  the  ground  I  surely  see  my  shadow,  so  I  hurry 
back  and  take  another  nap  for  six  weeks.  That  is 
about  the  only  time  I  see  snow,  and  you  can  see  how 
Stripes  never  sees  any,  and  how  impossible  it  is  for 
him  to  know  what  snow  looks  like,"  explained 
Johnnie  Chuck.  "But  it  was  a  good  joke  to  ask 
Peter  Rabbit,  anyway,"  he  went  on.  "Well,  you 
boys  take  care  of  yourselves  to-night  and  don't  let 
Farmer  Brown's  big  dog  get  you.  I'll  help  out  all 
I  can  and  cook  you  up  a  dark  rainy  night  if  it  will 
be  any  help  to  you,"  called  out  Johnnie  Chuck,  and 
he  started  for  home,  just  as  the  shadows  of  evening 
were  falling  across  the  meadow  land,  the  corn  field, 
and  the  little  brook. 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  AN  APPLE  BLOSSOM 

\\TELLl  Well!  Well!  I'm  the  first  one  up  on 
the  old  pippin  tree.  Wake  up,  you  fellows; 
going  to  sleep  all  summer?"  called  out  the  eldest 
blossom  on  the  widespreading  apple  tree.  "Come, 
get  a  move  on  you,  as  busy  Billy  Bee  will  soon  be 
along  for  his  morning  nip,  and  if  you  fellows  don't 
loosen  up  soon  you  will  never  amount  to  anything. 
Remember  if  you  don't  give,  you  will  never  receive, 
so  give  Billy  Bee  a  good  swig  of  your  honey  and  he 
will  bring  you  a  package  of  bright  yellow  powder 
pollen,  that  will  put  life  into  you,  and  make  you  a 
regular  fellow  some  day. 

"You  fellows  may  not  know  it,  but  when  Billy 
Bee  gets  honey  from  some  other  blossom  he  also 
gets  pollen  on  his  feet  from  the  stamens  of  that 
blossom,  then  when  he  comes  over  here  to  see  you 
and  get  your  honey — the  thing  that  really  attracts 
hun — why  he  scatters  the  pollen  all  over  you  that 
he  brought  with  him  from  the  other  blossom  and 
thereby  he  fertilizes  you  so  that  you  will  continue  to 
grow  and  produce  a  mature  apple.  Otherwise,  with- 

109 


110          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

out  the  help  of  Billy  Bee  and  the  fertilizing  pollen, 
you  will  wither  and  die  within  a  few  days." 

"There  was  a  fellow  on  this  same  limb  last  year, 
so  I  have  heard,  that  was  a  sure  'nuff  tightwad. 
He  wouldn't  give  any  honey  at  all.  Just  stayed 
closed  up  all  the  time,  keeping  his  honey  to  himself. 
Billy  Bee  and  his  friends  just  left  him  all  alone  and 
didn't  pay  him  any  attention  whatever;  didn't 
powder  him  up  every  morning  with  nice  yellow 
pollen,  so  old  Mister  Tightwad  got  what  was  coming 
to  him — he  died. 

"Listen,  fellows!  I  hear  him  coming.  There  he 
is.  Hello,  Billy  Bee!  Come  over  and  I'll  load  you 
down.  Fine  day  for  bees  and  apple  blossoms, 
isn't  it?" 

"Yes,  but  you  had  best  pull  your  eiderdown  com- 
fort up  over  your  ears  to-night,  for  old  Jack  Frost 
is  going  to  make  us  a  call,"  buzzed  Billy  Bee  as  he 
took  his  toll  of  honey  from  each  blossom,  and  also 
dropped  a  good  word  of  advice  as  he  visited  his 
friends  in  Farmer  Good's  big  apple  orchard. 

"Oh,  my!  That  sounds  bad  and  I  am  cold 
already,"  shivered  the  one-day-old  pink  bud,  Baby 
Blossom,  the  hero  of  this  story. 

"I  'm  afraid  that  some  of  the  youngsters  will  not 
pull  through  to-night,  if  they  stay  up  late,"  was  the 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  AN  APPLE  BLOSSOM  111 

parting  remark  of  Billy  Bee,  as  he  made  a  "bee" 
line  for  the  Rambo  tree. 

After  several  hours  of  cold  rain  followed  by  a 
white  frost  the  little  twig  on  which  our  hero  had 
been  frozen  to  sleep  felt  a  quiver,  then  a  shake. 

"Ugh!  Brrr!  My,  I  am  about  frozen,"  shouted 
the  eldest  bud.  "What's  the  matter  with  everyone? 
Hello,  Sonny!  Just  able  to  move,  are  you?  What's 
that?  Half  of  you  fellows  frozen  stiff?  Well,  that's 
too  bad.  That  was  a  terrible  night,  wasn't  it?  I 
expect  a  lot  of  the  fellows  won't  be  out  any  more. 
I  wish  Mr.  Sun  would  hurry  and  warm  things  up.  It 
would  help  you  a  lot  and  wouldn't  hurt  me  any 
either." 

About  this  time  a  great  racket  started  at  the  other 
end  of  the  orchard,  which  stirred  to  life  all  the 
blossoms  on  the  hundreds  of  trees  in  Farmer  Good's 
orchard.  At  once  every  blossom  on  the  old  pippin 
tree  that  had  any  life  left  was  asking  what  it  all 
meant.  Just  at  this  moment  Bluey  Jay-Bird  flew 
up  among  the  blossoms  and,  hearing  the  excited 
conversation,  said  that  he  would  fly  over  and  see 
what  it  was  all  about. 

In  a  moment  he  came  hurrying  back. 

"It's  Farmer  Good,"  said  Bluey,  "and  the  boys 
with  the  new  power  sprayer  from  the  Farm  Bureau. 


112         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

They  are  going  to  give  you  fellows  a  bath  of  poi- 
soned water  to  keep  you  healthy.  I  heard  him  say 
that  the  other  spray  he  gave  you,  before  you  opened, 
was  lime-sulphur  1  to  10  strength,  to  control  the  San 
Jose  scale  and  other  parasites,  but  that  since  you 
boys  were  out  now,  they  would  use  it  1%  to  50 
strength,  a  much  weaker  solution,  but  would  add 
the  arsenate  of  lead  to  kill  the  chewing  insects  that 
will  injure  you  later  on." 

"I  wonder  if  it  will  hurt,"  questioned  little  Baby 
Blossom,  who  had  barely  survived  the  cold. 

"Not  if  it  isn't  too  strong,"  said  Bluey.  "If  it  is 
too  strong,  it  will  kill  the  buds  and  also  turn  the 
leaves  brown,  but  I  think  that  Farmer  Good  knows 
his  business.  This  spray  is  put  on  about  the  time 
some  of  you  begin  to  lose  your  petals,  and  then 
again  every  ten  days  later  for  two  or  three  spray- 
ings," concluded  Bluey. 

About  this  time  Billy  Bee  buzzed  by  in  a  terrible 
hurry,  chasing  a  great  big  fellow,  who  was  making 
frantic  efforts  to  escape. 

"Look!"  said  our  apple  blossom.  "Who  is  that 
big  fellow  Billy  Bee  is  chasing?  Billy  is  in  a  terrible 
rage.  Oh,  look!  Cock  Robin  gobbled  him  up.  I 
wonder  what  it  was  all  about.  Here  comes  Billy 
Bee  back,  I'll  ask  him  all  about  it." 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  AN  APPLE  BLOSSOM  113 

Billy  settled  himself  on  a  convenient  blossom,  all 
"het  up"  after  his  chase,  but  his  rage  slowly  sub- 
sided. 

"Well,  Billy,  who  was  the  big  fellow?" 

"That  was  old  Codling-Moth.  He  and  his  chil- 
dren can  do  more  damage  in  an  orchard  than  a  fire," 
angrily  explained  Billy  Bee.  "I  hate  him.  He  is 
always  looking  to  see  whom  he  can  destroy.  He 
won't  work,  but  just  lives  off  other  people.  Cock 
Robin  knew  what  to  do  with  him." 

After  Billy  Bee  had  rested  and  taken  another  sip 
of  honey,  he  went  over  to  pay  his  respects  to  the 
blossoms  of  the  Maiden  Blush  tree. 

"Billy  is  a  good  fellow  and  a  perfect  gentleman," 
said  little  Jenny  Wren,  who  had  stopped  to  see  what 
the  racket  was  all  about.  "Billy  is  always  busy  and 
never  harms  anyone  who  doesn't  bother  him.  He 
has  a  violent  temper,  however,  and  never  fails  to 
back  up  his  argument  with  a  weapon  that  will  make 
anyone  move." 

At  this  point  Farmer  Good,  with  his  power 
sprayer  and  its  drenching  shower  of  lime  sulphur 
and  arsenate  of  lead,  gave  our  friends,  the  blossoms 
of  the  old  pippin  tree,  a  soaking,  but  a  sudden  gust 
of  wind  blew  the  spray  to  one  side  so  that  one  limb 
was  not  sprayed.  After  it  was  over  our  Baby  Bios- 


114          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

som  screamed  through  his  tears,  "Ouch !  Wipe  my 
eyes.  Goodness,  what  a  taste!  That  should  keep 
most  anything  away." 

"Hooray!  That's  a  good  joke,"  said  Pinkie 
Blossom  on  the  unsprayed  limb.  "Never  touched 
us.  Missed  us  entirely.  We  didn't  get  a  bit." 

"Well,  you  didn't  miss  much,"  said  Baby  Blossom. 
"However,  time  will  tell  whether  you  are  in  luck 
just  now  or  not.  You  seem  to  be  now,  but  from 
what  Bluey  Jay-Bird  said  I  have  my  doubts  about 
it." 

After  a  lapse  of  a  few  weeks,  on  one  bright  morn- 
ing the  young  pippin,  now  beginning  to  grow  into 
quite  an  apple,  ventured  the  assertion  that  the  twig 
he  was  on  was  beginning  to  complain  about  his 
weight.  After  looking  around,  he  said: 

"Say,  fellows,  what  is  the  matter  with  you  on 
your  limb?  You  say  that  codling-moth's  children 
are  eating  you?  Oh,  that's  too  bad!" 

"You  will  remember  that  we  were  rejoicing  when 
we  didn't  get  sprayed,"  remarked  one  poor  little 
fellow  who  was  about  gone,  "and  feeling  sorry  for 
you  with  your  eyes  full  of  spray  material.  Well,  we 
were  the  unfortunate  ones,  since  the  poison  you  re- 
ceived killed  old  codling-moth's  children  as  soon 
as  they  were  born.  But  we  didn't  have  any  protec- 


THE  LIFE  STORY  OF  AN  APPLE  BLOSSOM  115 

tion  at  all,  all  on  account  of  the  wind's  blowing  the 
spray  away  from  us." 

"I  am  terribly  sorry  for  you,"  said  our  hero,  "but 
at  the  same  time  I  am  most  thankful  that  I  got 
such  a  soaking.  Old  Rambo  tree  got  too  strong  a 
mixture,  due  to  the  mistake  of  Careless  Jake,  and 
the  leaves  are  all  turned  brown.  Farmer  Good  has 
put  Jake  on  a  job  where  he  doesn't  have  to  use  his 
head,  so  that  he  can't  make  trouble  any  more." 

One  bright  September  morning  the  apple,  now 
quite  a  matured  pippin,  after  lustily  shaking  the 
morning  dew  from  his  well  rounded  sides  remarked : 

"Say,  fellows,  I'm  not  bragging,  but  I  sure  am 
some  pippin.  Gee,  this  is  the  life.  Birds  singing 
to  us  all  the  day,  the  wind  rocking  us  to  sleep,  and 
the  girls  of  the  Maiden  Blush  tree  flirting  with  us 
every  time  we  look  their  way. 

"It's  too  bad  you  fellows  on  your  unsprayed  limb 
are  so  miserable.  Old  Codling-Moth,  Apple  Worm, 
Black  Rot,  Canker,  and  their  friends  surely  laid 
their  heavy  hands  on  you.  What  a  difference  be- 
tween us  now,  and  to  think  we  had  an  equal  start! 

"My,  it's  great  to  be  healthy  and  good-looking. 
Say!  Here  comes  Farmer  Good  with  a  ladder.  I 
wonder  what's  up  now,"  questioned  our  hero. 

Farmer  Good  put  the  ladder  up  to  the  pippin 


116          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

tree,  climbed  up,  and  carefully  took  the  big  apple — 
our  hero — off  his  twig  and,  after  wrapping  it  in 
tissue  paper,  remarked  to  Gardener  Bill  what  a 
beauty  it  was,  and  that  it  would  just  complete  the 
exhibit. 

After  a  few  moments  the  import  of  the  conversa- 
tion dawned  upon  the  big  pippin,  who  sang  out 
cheerily  as  he  was  carried  away: 

"Ain't  it  a  grand  and  glorious  feeling?  I  am  going 
to  the  National  Apple  Show.  So  long,  fellows." 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK 

"  A  W!  Shut  up!  You  guys  make  me  sick  with 
**•  your  yappin'.  Can  the  chatter  and  let  a 
feller  sleep/'  disgustedly  growled  the  rough-neck 
cockle  burr  one  early  morning  in  August,  over  in 
Farmer  Careless's  corn  field.  He  had  been  awak- 
ened this  morning  by  the  lamentations  of  the  corn 
stalks  growing  in  the  field.  They  were  all  passing 
through  a  very  hot,  dry  period  of  the  summer,  that 
would  be  long  remembered  as  one  of  the  hottest 
and  driest  ever  experienced.  All  the  stalks  were 
suffering,  not  only  on  account  of  the  lack  of  rainfall, 
but  because  the  supply  of  plant  food  was  insufficient 
for  good  development,  and  also  because  Farmer 
Careless  had  permitted  the  field  to  become  infested 
with  cockle  burrs. 

These  rough  customers  were  growing  in  the  hills 
with  the  stalks  of  corn,  robbing  the  plants  of  the 
moisture  and  plant  food,  as  well  as  crowding  the 
stalks,  until  it  became  almost  unbearable.  As  the 
spiny  seed-pods  of  the  cockle  burr  developed  and 

matured,  they  scratched  and  irritated  the  stalks  of 

117 


118          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

corn  as  they  swayed  to  and  fro  in  the  breeze.  How- 
ever, the  greatest  cause  of  complaint  did  not  lie  here. 
It  was  the  fact  that  there  was  not  enough  food  to 
go  around.  Farmer  Careless  had  been  mining  his 
soil  of  its  fertility  for  many  years.  He  did  not 
believe  in  rebuilding  the  soil  by  the  application  of 
fertilizers  of  various  kinds,  such  as  nitrogen,  phos- 
phorus, limestone,  and  potash;  consequently  the 
fertility  of  his  farm  had  been  consumed  by  his  crops 
of  years  gone  by,  until  the  present  crop  was  limited 
to  about  one-half  of  a  normal  yield  under  good 
climatic  conditions.  The  stalks  of  corn  had  been 
starving  all  summer  for  nitrogen  and  just  now,  as 
the  ears  and  kernels  were  forming,  the  plants  were 
calling  on  the  roots  to  furnish  phosphorus  to  com- 
plete the  development. 

"Why  is  it  that  we  can't  get  any  plant  food?" 
feebly  asked  one  pale,  sickly  corn  stalk  of  one  of  its 
companions. 

"It's  because  that  cockle  burr  is  robbing  us," 
answered  the  other. 

"I  wonder  if  he  wouldn't  divide  with  us  if  I  asked 
him,"  suggested  the  sickly  one. 

"Say,  Mister  Burr,  won't  you  let  us  have  a  part 
of  the  plant  food  that  you  are  taking?  We  are  about 
starved,  and  if  we  don't  get  something  soon  we  will 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK    119 

not  grow  any  ears  to  produce  corn  another  year," 
timidly  asked  the  weak  stalk. 

"Mister!  Say,  that's  good.  Where  do  you  get 
that  stuff?  You  poor  nut,  just  help  yourself.  Get 
what  you  can  and  I'll  do  the  same.  You  hothouse 
pets  need  a  nurse  to  look  after  you.  You  needn't 
think  that  you  are  the  only  ones  that  have  a  right 
to  grow  here.  The  old  guy  plows  around  me  the 
same  as  he  does  you.  There  are  just  as  many  of  us 
growing  here  in  this  field  as  there  are  of  you  bums, 
and  we  have  just  as  much  right  to  live  as  you  have. 
Believe  me,  old  top,  I  am  going  to  get  all  I  can 
while  the  gettin'  is  good,  and  if  you  don't  like  it, 
just  do  what  you  durn  please,"  returned  the  cockle 
burr  as  he  chuckled  to  himself,  shook  around  a  bit, 
scratched  the  corn  plant  as  he  did  so,  and  sent  word 
down  to  his  roots  to  get  busy  and  take  everything  in 
sight. 

"Tear  into  'em,  Scrappy,"  sang  out  the  button 
weed  in  an  adjoining  hill.  "These  birds  are  in  fast 
company  and  don't  know  it.  I've  got  a  pair  of 
mollycoddles  here  with  me.  Been  making  faces  at 
me  for  the  last  six  weeks.  The  old  man  seems  to 
think  as  much  of  me  as  he  does  of  them,  so  I  ain't 
worryin'." 

"Well,   we  were  planted  here  for  a  purpose," 


120         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

bravely  returned  a  good-sized  stalk  of  corn.  "We 
have  a  mission  to  fulfil.  We  grow  an  ear  of  corn 
that  helps  feed  the  people  and  livestock  of  the  entire 
world,  and  we  really  are  worth  while,  but  I  have 
never  heard  of  you  fellows  ever  doing  any  good  for 
anyone." 

"You  talk  like  one  of  these  new-fangled  agricul- 
turists, you  big  stiff/'  commenced  Cockle  Burr. 
"Say,  what  does  our  old  man  know  about  a  purpose 
or  a  mission?  All  he  knows  is  to  eat  and  sleep.  He 
ain't  bothered  about  missions  or  any  other  fool 
thing,  and  don't  kid  yourself  into  thinking  you  will 
ever  do  well  here  on  this  farm.  Why,  goldurn  it, 
we  have  been  here  on  this  farm  longer  than  he  has. 
His  father  and  grandfather  raised  us  here  years  ago 
when  there  was  plant  food  enough  in  the  soil  to  grow 
cockle  burrs,  button  weeds,  corn,  and  everything 
else,  and  believe  me,  'bo,'  you  ain't  agoin'  to  change 
the  old  man  now.  This  is  our  farm,  and  we  shall 
be  here  the  day  the  old  guy  is  carted  off  to  be 
planted  with  the  daisies,"  chuckled  the  cockle  burr, 
and  at  that  the  button  weed,  the  jimson,  and  the 
bull  nettle  roared  with  laughter. 

Days  and  weeks  went  by,  and  many  were  the 
conversations  that  took  place  similar  to  this  one, 
until  one  day  early  in  November  Careless  Jake  came 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK   121 

into  the  field  and  began  husking  the  corn.  The  corn 
was  quite  poor.  There  was  very  little  over  half  a 
crop,  the  other  half  being  made  up  of  noxious  weeds 
of  all  kinds,  so  it  didn't  take  Jake  very  long  to  get 
over  on  to  the  row  where  Cockle  Burr  and  his  friends 
and  companions  were,  that  had  now  grown  to  full 
maturity.  As  the  team  went  by  and  Jake  husked 
the  nubbins  and  small  ears  that  had  struggled  for 
an  existence,  one  poor  little  nubbin  exclaimed, 
"Well,  I  am  glad  to  get  away  from  here  and  out  of 
this  kind  of  company." 

"You  guys  got  nothing  on  us.  Guess  some  of  us 
will  just  go  along/'  retorted  several  of  the  new  cockle 
burrs  on  the  big  plant,  as  some  of  them  grabbed  the 
tail  of  Big  Dick,  the  bay  horse,  as  he  brushed  by, 
while  others  hung  on  to  the  hair  of  his  fetlock.  Then 
as  the  wagon  came  along  other  burrs  clung  to  the 
mud  on  the  wheel,  as  it  revolved  over  the  ground, 
breaking  the  plant  over,  and  thus  started  the  great 
distribution  of  burrs  from  Farmer  Careless's  field. 

A  few  days  later  Peter  Rabbit,  in  running  through 
the  corn  stalks,  encountered  the  broken-down  plant 
and  two  burrs  grabbed  him  as  he  hopped  along. 
These  stayed  with  Peter  for  several  days,  until  he 
lost  them  across  the  road  in  Farmer  Brown's  field 
of  clover.  Farmer  Brown  hated  cockle  burrs  as  he 


122          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

hated  rats,  and  he  had  been  wondering  why  it  was 
that  he  could  never  get  rid  of  them.  It  was  all  be- 
cause Peter  Rabbit  kept  carrying  them  over  from 
Farmer  Careless's  field,  and  Farmer  Brown  never 
found  it  out  until  one  day  he  killed  Peter  Rabbit  in 
his  field  as  he  came  from  across  the  road,  and  there 
he  found  some  new  burrs  in  Peter's  fur. 

One  day  Reddy  Fox  came  trotting  through  the  old 
corn  field,  and  some  more  burrs  found  transporta- 
tion in  the  fur  on  Reddy's  sides  and  in  his  bushy  tail. 
Reddy  was  starting  on  a  long  trip  across  the  country 
and  after  he  had  traveled  quite  a  distance,  the  burr 
on  his  left  side  began  to  irritate  him,  and  to  interfere 
with  his  speed.  So  he  stopped  and  began  to  investi- 
gate the  cause  of  the  trouble.  He  was  not  long  in 
finding  it,  so  with  his  teeth  he  pulled  the  burr  off  and 
left  it  in  the  middle  of  Farmer  Jones's  winter  wheat 
field.  Reddy  had  gone  only  a  short  distance  when 
the  burr  on  his  right  side  began  to  cause  trouble,  so 
stopping  in  Farmer  Smith's  corn  field,  he  left  a  con- 
tribution for  him  in  the  shape  of  another  burr. 
Reddy  was  going  many  miles  to  see  some  friends 
who  lived  in  Farmer  Good's  clover  field,  so  when  he 
arrived  there  in  the  early  morning,  just  as  the  great 
crimson  sun  was  coming  up  in  the  east,  his  friends 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK   123 

asked  him  what  he  meant  by  carrying  burrs  around 
in  his  tail  that  way. 

"I  thought  I  was  rid  of  them,"  exclaimed  Reddy. 
"You  see  I  picked  them  up  in  Farmer  Careless's 
corn  field,  and  I  have  been  pulling  them  off  all  the 
way  down  here.  I  left  some  in  Farmer  Jones's  field, 
then  some  more  in  Farmer  Smith's  field  and,  to 
treat  them  all  alike,  we  will  now  give  Farmer  Good 
a  collection,"  remarked  Reddy  as  he  dropped  down 
on  his  right  side,  curling  his  bushy  tail  around  in 
front  of  him,  and  proceeded  to  pull  the  remaining 
burrs  out  to  start  a  new  colony  in  the  clover  field. 

So  far,  Cockle  Burr  had  made  good  selections  for 
the  young  burrs  in  providing  methods  of  transporta- 
tion for  them,  but  on  the  next  attempt  one  of  the 
young  fellows  made  a  terrible  mistake.  Billy  Skunk 
came  along  and  Cockle  Burr  decided  that  on  that 
great,  bushy,  black  tail  would  be  a  great  place  to 
ride,  so  he  hooked  on,  as  Billy  went  slowly  by,  and 
no  sooner  had  he  done  so  than  he  realized  his  mis- 
take. He  had  hardly  settled  himself  in  that  mass 
of  fur  when  he  detected  a  frightful  odor,  and  was 
fully  convinced  that  "his  day  was  spoiled."  He  be- 
gan at  once  to  lay  plans  to  arrange  for  other  trans- 
portation, where  it  would  not  only  be  more  rapid 


124         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

but  at  the  same  time  the  atmospheric  conditions 
would  be  more  conducive  to  the  comfort  of  the 
traveler. 

As  Billy  plodded  comfortably  along  through  the 
corn  stalks  and  weeds  over  to  Farmer  Careless's  barn 
yard,  where  he  was  in  search  of  a  tender  chicken, 
Cockle  Burr  kept  reaching  for  anything  that  would 
assist  in  releasing  him,  but  he  was  unable  to  make 
his  escape  until  he  reached  the  old  rail  fence  at  the 
rear  of  the  barn  lot.  Just  as  Billy  came  through  a 
crack  in  the  fence  where  the  pigs  were  accustomed 
to  wander  from  the  barn  lot  to  the  corn  field,  Shep 
the  collie  dog  came  around  the  barn  and,  detecting 
the  intruder  by  the  odor  that  permeated  the  evening 
air,  made  a  rush  for  him,  catching  him  just  as  he  at- 
tempted to  regain  the  other  side  of  the  fence. 

"If  I  live  a  thousand  years  I'll  never  forget 
that  fight,"  said  Cockle  Burr  to  a  friend  one  day, 
when  they  were  floating  down  the  tile  ditch  where 
he  was  to  find  himself  later  on. 

"When  Billy  Skunk  saw  Shep  coming  at  him,  he 
surely  got  his  masked  batteries  into  action  mighty 
quick,  but  Shep  must  have  been  an  old  hand  at  deal- 
ing with  this  kind  of  a  customer.  He  never  stopped, 
but  soon  had  Billy  by  the  neck.  In  the  shaking  and 
fighting  I  was  grabbing  at  everything  on  Shep  that 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK   125 

I  could  see,  and  at  last,  after  many  unsuccessful  at- 
tempts, I  did  land  on  old  Shep's  front  leg,  and  hung 
on  for  dear  life.  Say,  of  all  the  places  I  have  ever 
heard  of,  that  was  the  worst.  Shep  and  I  were  both 
choking  for  air,  and  it  wasn't  long  until  Shep  made  a 
dash  for  the  little  open  ditch  that  runs  through  the 
old  field. 

"Well,  in  the  water  we  went  head  over  heels,  and, 
believe  me,  it  was  the  most  wonderful  change  that 
can  be  imagined.  While  lying  there  in  the  cool 
water,  Shep  reached  down  and  got  hold  of  me  with 
his  teeth,  pulled  me  off,  and  sent  me  adrift  down 
the  open  ditch  into  the  tile  ditch  of  Farmer  John- 
son's field  and  here  I  am  now  after  a  few  days'  soak- 
ing up  which  makes  a  fellow  feel  good." 

After  floating  down  this  dark  underground  pas- 
sageway, he  emerged  one  evening  from  the  mouth 
of  the  tile  ditch  and  floated  out  into  the  little  creek 
in  the  edge  of  the  woods,  lodging  against  a  drift  of 
branches  and  leaves  along  the  bank.  While  he  was 
lying  there  meditating  on  what  would  happen  next, 
Bobby  Coon  came  out  on  the  drift  looking  for  cray- 
fish, and  as  he  reached  down  in  the  water  for  an 
especially  nice  one,  Cockle  Burr  grabbed  hold  of 
Bobby's  front  leg.  Bobby  had  quite  an  evening  of 
it  there  on  the  drift  eating  crayfish,  but  decided  that 


126         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

in  order  to  have  a  balanced  ration  he  would  need 
some  of  Farmer  Johnson's  fresh  eggs,  that  he  knew 
to  be  in  the  nests  of  the  little  white  chicken-house 
just  at  the  edge  of  the  apple  orchard;  so  Bobby 
started  off  across  the  bottoms  of  the  little  valley, 
through  which  the  stream  flowed.  He  soon  came  to 
a  wire  fence  enclosing  a  field  of  alfalfa,  and  as  he 
crawled  through  between  the  wires  the  cockle  burr 
that  was  still  on  Bobby's  front  leg  was  pulled  off 
and  dropped  to  the  ground,  where  he  soon  settled 
himself  in  a  comfortable  position  with  the  other  weed 
seeds  that  were  lying  on  the  ground. 

Thus  were  the  burrs  of  the  plant  in  Farmer  Care- 
less's  field  scattered  over  many  miles  and  many 
farms,  using  many  different  methods  of  transporta- 
tion. Winter  came  on.  Spring  with  its  warm  rains 
washed  the  burrs  into  the  soil  and  in  a  short  time 
one  of  the  two  seeds  of  each  burr  germinated  and 
started  again  the  reproduction  program.  Only  one 
of  the  seeds  of  each  burr  germinated  this  year,  as  na- 
ture has  provided  that  both  seeds  shall  not  grow  the 
same  year.  However,  the  other  seed  would  ger- 
minate the  following  year,  thus  insuring  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  plant.  Of  course  all  the  burrs  in 
the  tail  and  fetlocks  of  Big  Dick  were  scattered  all 
over  the  farm  of  Farmer  Careless,  as  were  those 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK    127 

that  clung  to  the  mud  of  the  wagon  wheels.  These 
grew  and  thrived  unmolested.  The  burrs  that  Peter 
Rabbit  carried  over  to  Farmer  Brown's  clover  field 
grew  also,  but  were  cut  down  with  the  clover  before 
reaching  maturity.  However,  the  burrs  that  Reddy 
Fox  pulled  off  in  Farmer  Smith's  corn  field  grew  to 
maturity  in  the  oat  field  that  followed  the  corn. 

One  day  during  the  autumn  season  a  peculiar  thing 
happened  to  a  cockle  burr  that  was  growing  all  by 
itself  on  the  edge  of  one  of  Farmer  Careless's  fields. 
One  of  the  army  aviators  with  his  great  airplane 
landed  in  the  field,  to  make  some  slight  adjustment, 
and  the  cockle  burr  thought  how  wonderful  it  would 
be  to  take  a  trip  in  the  clouds  if  such  a  thing  was 
only  possible.  However,  it  is  usually  the  unex- 
pected that  happens.  The  motor  of  the  big  ship  was 
soon  started;  the  pilot  taxied  across  the  field,  then 
turned  into  the  wind,  and  came  with  a  rush  directly 
toward  the  cockle  burr,  all  a-tremble  at  the  sight  of 
this  great  bird  tearing  toward  him. 

"I'm  going  to  take  a  chance  if  it  kills  me,"  said 
Cockle  Burr  to  himself.  Cockle  Burr  came  from  a 
family  that  was  used  to  taking  all  kinds  of  chances, 
in  order  to  get  into  new  territory,  and  he  felt  that 
here  was  a  chance  to  make  a  name  for  himself,  so 
just  as  the  big  ship  was  about  upon  him,  he  stretched 


128         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

up  his  limbs  and  branches  and  managed  to  get  en- 
tangled in  the  truss  rods  of  the  landing  gear,  and 
was  jerked  out  of  the  ground  with  a  suddenness 
that  made  his  head  swim.  When  he  came  to  him- 
self he  found  that  he  was  going  out  of  that  field  at 
the  rate  of  ninety  miles  an  hour. 

"Hey!  Look  where  you  are  going,"  yelled  Cockle 
Burr  as  the  ship  heeled  over  on  one  wing  in  a  sharp 
curve,  just  avoiding  a  big  tree  that  stood  near  the 
edge  of  the  field. 

"This  bird  doesn't  care  what  happens  to  me.  See 
him  go  up,"  he  cried,  as  the  ship  turned  into  the 
wind  again  and  began  to  climb.  Gathering  speed 
and  altitude  all  the  while,  Cockle  Burr  was  soon  tear- 
ing through  the  fleecy  clouds  at  an  altitude  of  five 
thousand  feet,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the  motor 
stopped,  the  roaring  exhaust  of  the  engine  ceased, 
and  Cockle  Burr  found  himself  falling  to  the  ground 
with  the  speed  of  a  meteor.  He  soon  entered  into  a 
spiral  dive  that  fairly  took  his  breath  away,  when 
very  gently  the  ship  righted  itself,  and  glided 
smoothly  into  the  bluegrass  pasture  on  the  big  farm 
of  Farmer  Good. 

Cockle  Burr  had  hardly  recovered  himself  when 
Farmer  Good  drove  up  in  his  roadster,  and  as  the 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK   129 

young  lieutenant  climbed  down  from  the  cockpit  of 
the  ship,  Farmer  Good  greeted  him. 

"Hello,  Bob!  When  did  you  get  the  new  ship?" 

"This  is  a  new  model  Chanute  Field  is  trying  out, 
Mr.  Good.  Look  her  over;  isn't  she  a  beauty?"  an- 
swered the  officer. 

"Say,  Bob,  where  have  you  been?  Whose  field 
did  you  just  fly  out  of?"  asked  Farmer  Good. 

"Why,  I  stopped  for  a  few  minutes  in  a  field  on 
Farmer  Careless's  farm." 

"I  thought  so.  Look!  Here  is  one  of  his  pets," 
said  Farmer  Good,  as  he  unhooked  the  cockle  burr 
from  the  landing  gear.  "This  is  a  new  way  for  these 
fellows  to  travel.  I  knew  they  took  advantage  of 
everything  that  moved  in  order  to  get  into  new  loca- 
tions, but  I  never  heard  of  their  traveling  by  air- 
plane before.  I'll  take  care  of  this  fellow  all  right 
and  see  that  he  does  no  damage  on  this  farm." 

The  cockle  burr  that  Reddy  Fox  pulled  off  and  left 
in  Farmer  Jones's  winter  wheat  field  grew  the  next 
year,  but  was  plowed  under  early  before  it  had  time 
to  mature,  as  Farmer  Jones  knew  what  to  do  with 
them. 

The  burrs  that  Reddy  pulled  out  of  his  tail  in 
Farmer  Good's  clover  field  were  plowed  under  in  the 


130          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

fall  when  the  clover  stubble  was  plowed.  These 
germinated  in  the  spring,  and  some  of  them  came  up 
directly  in  the  hills  of  corn,  while  others  made  their 
appearance  between  the  rows.  These  were  easily  de- 
stroyed by  the  sharp  surface  cultivators,  and  after 
the  last  cultivation  men  were  sent  into  the  fields  in 
search  of  any  that  might  have  escaped.  The  highly 
fertilized  ground  nourished  the  stalks  of  corn  so 
well  that  they  were  not  bothered  by  the  crowding 
of  the  few  burrs  that  were  left,  and  they  just 
laughed  at  the  cockle  burrs  that  were  outcasts  in  this 
community  of  good  society,  when  one  of  them  began 
telling  of  the  good  times  his  folks  had  had  on  the 
old  farm  of  Farmer  Careless. 

"You  high-toned  guys  gits  on  my  nerves,"  com- 
plained Cockle  Burr  one  day  after  a  lengthy  debate  in 
which  the  intelligence  of  the  high-bred  corn  easily 
won  out.  "If  I  had  my  way,  and  had  me  pals  from 
up  home,  I'd  show  you,"  he  added. 

"Well,  one  thing  is  sure,  you  and  your  low-brow 
pals  won't  bother  us  any,  because  your  tune  is  short. 
You  are  right.  This  is  a  high-toned  bunch  of  folks, 
and  we  don't  want  any  rough-necks  of  your  kind 
around.  What's  more,  we  have  a  friend  in  Farmer 
Good  who  won't  stand  for  bums  and  hoboes  in  or  out 
of  the  corn  field,"  returned  one  of  the  big  healthy 


COCKLE  BURR,  THE  ROUGH-NECK   131 

stalks.    "Here  comes  our  friend  now.    What  he  will 
do  to  you  will  be  worth  seeing." 

Just  at  this  time  Farmer  Good  and  some  of  the 
men  from  the  State  University  came  down  this  par- 
ticular row,  inspecting  the  corn  of  this  highly  spe- 
cialized breeding  experiment,  and  as  they  came  to 
Cockle  Burr,  Farmer  Good  reached  down  and  pulled 
him  out  by  the  roots.  He  took  out  his  knife,  then, 
taking  the  old  seed  pod  on  the  root  of  the  plant,  he 
cut  it  in  halves. 

"This  is  a  first-year  plant,"  he  said,  "for,  as  you 
see,  but  one  seed  has  germinated.  The  other  would 
germinate  next  year,  but  we  pull  these  fellows  before 
the  new  seed  pods  form  and  we  have  to  do  it  every 
year.  There  is  a  fellow  living  a  short  distance  away 
from  here,  by  the  name  of  Farmer  Careless,  who 
acts  as  a  source  of  infection  for  this  entire  commu- 
nity, as  far  as  weeds  of  all  kinds  are  concerned.  The 
foxes,  rabbits,  and  other  animals  carry  these  burrs, 
while  the  wind  blows  the  other  seeds  all  over  the 
country,  and  so  long  as  this  old  fellow  farms  the 
way  he  does,  the  entire  country  will  have  to  con- 
tend with  this  infection.  His  farming  methods  are 
the  same  as  his  grandfather's.  He  refuses  to  join 
the  Farm  Bureau  or  any  agricultural  associations, 
and  is  a  real  menace  to  the  better  agriculture. 


132          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

"However,  I  presume  we  shall  always  have  the 
'thorn  in  the  flesh'  in  the  shape  of  these  cockle  burrs, 
the  rough-neck  of  the  plant  world,  but  he  will  have 
to  be  eliminated  eventually  from  the  society  of  high- 
grade  agricultural  plants,  in  order  that  they  may  gain 
the  greatest  development.  In  the  same  way,  the 
rough-neck,  undesirable  individual  must  be  elimi- 
nated from  a  community,  in  order  that  the  society 
and  environment  may  be  the  proper  kind  in  which 
to  rear  and  educate  our  children,"  wisely  reflected 
Farmer  Good,  as  he  carried  the  cockle  burr  out  of 
the  field  to  be  destroyed. 


JIM  CROW 

TTIGH  up  in  an  old  cottonwood  tree  that  stood 
all  by  itself  in  the  middle  of  the  big  farm, 
was  Jim  Crow's  home.  Jim  had  been  a  resident  of 
the  big  farm  for  the  past  two  seasons,  and  was  there- 
fore quite  an  oldtimer.  This  spring  he  had  chosen 
a  dusky  maiden  for  his  mate  and  induced  her  to  share 
his  joy  and  happiness  with  him.  After  much  parley- 
ing, and  examination  of  various  home  sites,  they 
finally  agreed  upon  the  old  cottonwood  tree.  Several 
of  the  big  hedges  offered  attractive  surroundings,  but 
Jim  reasoned  that  out  here  in  the  middle  of  the  big 
farm,  where  they  could  see  all  around  them,  was  a 
safer  place  to  rear  their  family,  so  they  went  to  work 
building  the  nest.  They  nearly  had  a  quarrel  over 
selecting  the  exact  part  of  the  tree  for  the  place  to 
build  the  nest,  but  as  Jim  had  had  experience  the 
previous  year  in  home  building,  his  selection  pre- 
vailed. This  was  at  a  place  on  a  big  limb  where  three 
other  limbs  branched  and  made  an  ideal  site  to  start 
the  work. 
Jim  flew  over  to  an  old  thorn  tree  where  he  found 

133 


134         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

some  crooked  twigs  with  thorns  attached,  which  he 
first  used  in  making  the  foundation  structure  of  the 
nest.  With  these  he  wound  in  and  out  among  the 
thorns,  the  inner  fibrous  bark  of  the  dead  cotton- 
wood  limbs.  Then  he  also  found  in  the  old  straw 
stack,  some  twine  which  had  been  used  in  tying  the 
bundle  of  oats.  These  strings  he  used  to  tie  the 
main  parts  of  the  nest  together.  After  the  nest  was 
ready  to  finish,  he  then  selected  the  finest  of  wild 
prairie  grass,  also  the  soft  covering  from  the  weeds, 
and  lined  the  nest  with  these  materials,  finally  put- 
ting in  the  bottom  some  of  the  soft  bluegrass  that 
grew  along  the  fences.  Here  was  a  home  fit  for  a 
queen,  and  in  a  short  time  four  blue  eggs  with  black 
spots  all  over  them  were  resting  in  the  soft  carpet 
of  this  aerial  home. 

Three  weeks  later  four  fuzzy  black  shapes  emerged 
from  the  eggs,  and  from  that  time  on  Jim  and  the 
lady  of  the  house  had  their  hands  full  with  keep- 
ing those  hungry  mouths  filled.  The  older  they  grew, 
the  greater  was  the  burden  of  providing  food  for  the 
family.  At  first  the  food  had  to  be  selected  with 
care,  so  Jim  ransacked  the  freshly  cultivated  fields 
for  nice  fat  worms  and  the  main  diet  for  several  days 
consisted  of  cut  worms  and  grub  worms — big,  fat, 
white  ones,  that  made  the  children  grow  very  rap- 


Jim  Crow — the  shrewdest  rascal  of  the  bird  world. 


Bob  White's  nest  before  Jim  Crow  located  it. 


JIM  CROW  135 

idly.  It  was  not  long  until  they  were  able  to  sit  on 
the  edge  of  the  nest  and  then  to  walk  out  on  the 
limbs  of  the  big  tree;  then  they  began  to  find  their 
voice,  as  they  kept  informing  their  parents  of  the 
necessity  of  more  food. 

However,  in  another  week  Jim  decided  that  it  was 
time  to  teach  the  youngsters  the  art  of  flying,  so 
he  urged  them  to  fly  from  one  limb  to  another  until 
they  were  lower  down  on  the  tree  and  nearer  the 
ground.  Then  he  would  crowd  them  off  the  last 
limb,  while  they  would  make  a  frantic  effort  to  fly, 
which  only  served  to  break  the  force  of  their  fall  to 
the  ground.  After  many  attempts  during  the  next 
few  days  they  were  able  to  make  good  progress,  and 
then  they  soon  began  to  find  their  own  food. 

One  day  one  of  the  youngsters  was  sitting  on  a 
wire  fence  near  his  mother,  when  a  field  mouse  ran 
out  of  the  grass  into  the  cultivated  field,  to  dig  up 
another  kernel  of  corn  which  had  recently  been 
planted  there.  The  mother  made  a  sudden  rush  for 
him;  with  her  huge  claws  she  pinned  him  to  the 
ground  and  with  one  swift  stroke  of  her  sharp  bill 
ended  his  life.  Then  the  youngster  was  invited  down 
to  partake  of  the  delicacy.  He  enjoyed  it  very  much, 
and  decided  that  he  would  try  his  luck  at  this  kind 
of  a  game,  so  shortly  after  he  noticed  a  movement 


136          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

farther  down  the  fence  and  at  once  flew  at  the  little 
animal  that  was  hurrying  along.  The  young  crow 
dropped  down  on  him,  but  instead  of  finding  a  de- 
fenseless field  mouse  he  found  it  an  entirely  differ- 
ent individual,  who  was  so  infuriated  by  the  attack 
that  he  turned  in  a  rage  on  the  young  crow  and  his 
dagger-like  teeth  slit  through  the  feathers  into  the 
throat  and  the  warm  blood  gushed  forth  into  the  face 
of  the  weazel,  who  now  was  determined  to  have  his 
own  dinner.  It  was  only  a  short  struggle,  as  the 
weasel  never  let  go,  and  soon  the  young  crow  lay  life- 
less, while  the  weasel  was  most  satisfied  with  the 
events  of  the  day. 

The  other  three  youngsters  did  not  make  such  fa- 
tal mistakes,  but  continued  to  grow  and  improve  un- 
der the  teaching  of  their  parents.  They  were  now 
busy  most  of  the  day  in  hunting  for  food,  which  con- 
sisted mainly  of  wire  worms,  corn-root  worms,  bill 
bugs,  and  many  kind  of  beetles.  They  also  learned 
that  at  the  bottom  of  each  little  green  corn  plant 
lay  a  nice  kernel  of  corn,  and  they  were  busy  for  a 
week  or  two  in  pulling  corn  kernels  out  of  the  mellow 
soil  where  they  had  been  planted.  One  morning  as 
Jim  Crow  and  his  family  flew  across  the  country  to 
a  field  where  some  corn  was  just  coming  through  the 
ground,  he  gave  his  three  children  their  first  lesson 


JIM  CROW  137 

in  protection  and  self-preservation.  They  all 
alighted  on  the  fence  posts  that  bordered  the  corn 
field,  and  from  this  point  of  observation  Jim  began 
his  morning  lecture: 

"Now,  children,  I  want  to  give  you  some  instruc- 
tion that  you  are  to  use  all  your  life  and  the  knowl- 
edge that  you  display  in  observing  these  rules  will 
determine  the  number  of  days  you  will  live.  Now, 
you  very  well  know  that  we  are  not  handsome  or 
beautiful  like  many  of  the  birds,  and  if  we  should 
try  to  compete  with  the  others  in  singing,  why  every- 
one would  get  out  of  hearing  at  once.  None  of  our 
crowd  ever  sang,  so  don't  waste  any  of  your  time 
taking  singing  lessons  from  the  lark,  the  brown 
thrush,  the  song  sparrow,  or  any  of  the  rest;  it's 
good  time  wasted,  as  we  were  not  built  that  way. 

"All  the  beautiful  birds  and  the  fine  singers  are 
rapidly  decreasing  in  numbers,  as  well  as  the  birds 
that  are  killed  for  food.  Well,  we  are  not  beautiful, 
we  don't  sing,  and  people  don't  kill  us  for  food,  but 
we  would  all  be  killed  if  we  used  no  more  caution 
than  other  birds.  Now  the  quail  depends  on  his 
swift  wings  and  his  camouflaged  coloring  to  provide 
a  method  of  escape,  but  the  bird  dog  can  easily 
smell  him  as  he  hides  in  the  hedges,  and  the  shotgun 
can  easily  reach  him  when  he  flies.  Never  try  to 


138         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

hide.  Stay  out  in  the  open  and  keep  your  eye  on 
everyone,  and  learn  to  distinguish  the  difference  be- 
tween a  gun  and  a  pitchfork  when  carried  by  a  man. 
Also  learn  the  difference  between  a  man  and  a  scare- 
crow. Lots  of  folks  lose  their  head  over  little  things 
which  later  prove  to  be  nothing  but  a  scarecrow. 
However,  don't  take  chances.  That  is  the  reason 
the  crow  family  is  surviving  and  maintaining  its 
numbers,  while  all  other  bird  families  are  growing 
smaller. 

"Remember  this.  Never  travel  alone.  Take  some- 
one along  with  you,  no  matter  if  it  is  on  pleasure 
or  business.  Here  we  are  out  here  this  morning  on 
business,  the  business  of  providing  our  breakfast. 
We  could  all  jump  down  on  that  young  corn  and 
fill  ourselves,  possibly  without  any  danger  of  being 
killed  by  the  farmer's  shotgun,  but  it  would  be  tak- 
ing a  chance,  so  whenever  you  feed  on  the  ground 
or  in  an  obscure  location,  always  post  a  sentinel, 
that  he  may  warn  the  rest  of  you  of  any  danger  while 
you  are  feeding. 

"The  method  of  deciding  who  shall  be  sentinel  is 
determined  by  the  oldest  and  most  experienced  crow 
in  the  party.  In  this  case  I  am  the  one  who  decides. 
Therefore,  the  three  of  you  children  shall  take  turns 
in  doing  sentry  duty,  while  your  mother  and  I  get 


JIM  CROW  139 

our  breakfast  and  pull  out  corn  for  the  sentry.  As 
soon  as  one  of  the  children  has  been  properly  fed 
he  shall  replace  the  sentry,  who  shall  then  get  his 
breakfast,  and  I  will  give  the  signal  when  the  change 
shall  be  made.  You  may  both  start  from  the  field 
and  your  post  of  duty  at  the  same  time,  but  under 
no  consideration  must  you  all  be  on  the  ground  at  the 
same  time  without  a  sentry  on  duty. 

"Now,  the  duty  of  the  sentry  is  to  observe  every 
moving  object  and  to  determine  its  character.  If 
there  is  the  slightest  danger,  then  the  sentry  is  to 
give  the  alarm  'Caw,  Caw,  Caw'  three  times  to  noti- 
fy the  others.  If  he  deems  it  advisable  to  order  a 
flight,  he  does  so  by  a  series  of  calls  that  definitely 
locate  the  danger  to  the  ones  on  the  ground.  If 
the  danger  be  a  man  with  a  gun  and  he  is  to  the 
west  of  the  feeding  party,  the  sentry  is  to  specify 
his  location  by  a  certain  call  and  fly  directly  away 
from  him.  This  will  also  be  the  direction  that  all 
the  rest  are  to  take  until  out  of  range  of  all  danger. 
Other  calls  will  decide  the  other  directions  of  dan- 
ger, but  while  on  sentry  duty  do  not  become  unduly 
alarmed  or  excited,  or  make  any  fuss  unless  neces- 
sary. Keep  your  head  and  always  use  caution." 

"Now  you  are  to  act  as  sentry  this  morning/' 
said  Jim  Crow  to  one  of  the  children,  "and  as  soon 


140         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

as  one  of  your  brothers  has  finished  his  breakfast 
you  will  be  relieved."  Putting  his  words  into  ac- 
tion, the  rest  of  the  family  followed  Jim  down  to 
the  ground,  where  they  began  pulling  up  the  young 
tender  corn  plants  and  eating  the  soft  kernels  from 
which  the  young  plants  started.  He  showed  the 
youngsters  how  to  do  the  trick  and  as  soon  as  one  of 
them  had  been  properly  fed,  Jim  ordered  a  change 
of  sentries,  then  the  young  fellow  on  the  post  had 
his  breakfast  made  ready  for  him.  This  was  their 
first  lesson  and  they  soon  became  quite  proficient  in 
the  art  of  detecting  danger,  and  determining  the 
difference  between  a  man  with  a  gun  and  one  with- 
out firearms. 

One  day  Jim  Crow  took  the  children  on  an  egg- 
hunting  trip.  He  first  found  Mrs.  Meadow  Lark 
away  from  home,  and  the  crow  family  made  short 
work  of  her  five  speckled  eggs.  They  next  located 
along  the  old  rail  fence  Mrs.  Bob  White,  with  her 
nest  full  of  beautifully  white  eggs  that  meant  so 
much  to  her.  They  drove  her  away  after  a  desperate 
defense  on  the  part  of  Bob  White  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  devour  the  entire  lot,  a  nest  of  sixteen 
eggs,  which  would  soon  have  developed  into  the 
best  friends  of  the  big  farm. 

Just  as  the  crow  family  were  finishing  the  last  of 


JIM  CROW  141 

the  eggs,  Killer,  the  big  hawk,  came  sailing  along  and 
stopped  on  a  nearby  fence  post  to  see  what  all  the 
disturbance  was  about. 

"Say,  Jim!  You  should  be  ashamed  of  yourself 
to  rob  Bob  White's  nest  like  that,  and  to  think  you 
are  teaching  your  children  to  do  the  same  thing! 
That  is  the  reason  that  all  the  rest  of  the  birds  know 
you  as  Robber  Jim  Crow.  You  should  behave  your- 
self and  be  more  of  a  gentleman/'  lectured  the  big 
hawk. 

"Haw!  Haw!  Haw!  That's  the  best  one  I  have 
heard  for  an  age!  The  Killer  sitting  on  his  throne, 
telling  the  Robber  to  go  straight,"  returned  Jim. 
"Say,  I  suppose  that  you  would  like  all  the  birds  and 
the  quails  to  hatch  their  eggs,  so  that  you  might  kill 
the  defenseless  youngsters  while  they  are  nice  and 
tender.  How  about  that  little  white  chicken  I  saw 
you  bringing  home  yesterday?  Suppose  Farmer 
Good  missed  that  one?  How  about  that  nest  of 
young  red-wing  blackbirds  I  saw  you  cleaning  out 
the  other  day?  And  again  you  will  remember  that 
nice  brood  of  prairie  chickens  that  you  kept  after 
for  days  last  year  in  the  big  wheat  field  until  you 
got  the  last  one.  You  remember  all  that,  don't  you? 
Then  you  tell  me  to  be  a  gentleman.  Haw!  Haw! 
Haw!"  and  Jim  Crow  nearly  laughed  himself  sick. 


142         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

The  hawk  was  trying  his  best  to  frame  a  suitable 
answer,  when  out  from  an  adjoining  bush  trotted 
Reddy  Fox  and  the  hawk  decided  it  was  a  most  op- 
portune time  to  leave,  but  Jim  and  his  family  flew 
up  into  the  nearby  hedge  trees  and,  after  wiping 
his  ebony  beak  on  the  limbs,  Jim  cried  out,  "Hello, 
Reddy!  Which  way?" 

"Oh !  Just  looking  for  a  young  rabbit  for  dinner. 
Seen  anything  around  here  you  cannot  use?"  an- 
swered Reddy. 

"Now,  children,  there  is  a  gentleman  and  a  truth- 
ful one.  He  admits  he  is  after  rabbit  and  not 
ashamed  of  it.  He  would  eat  you  just  as  quick  as  he 
would  a  rabbit  if  he  had  the  chance,"  explained  Jim 
Crow. 

"Now  don't  flatter  yourself,  Jim !  I  ate  crow  once 
and  I  am  going  to  be  terribly  hungry  again  before 
I  try  it  the  second  time.  Ground  mice,  moles,  and 
gophers  are  real  food  compared  to  your  family,  but 
when  I  want  a  real  banquet  I  know  where  to  go. 
You  think  I  am  going  to  say  chicken,  duck,  or  goose, 
don't  you?  Well,  they  are  good,  but  a  young  pig  is 
the  best  meat  you  ever  ate,  and  I  am  going  to  have 
one  to-night  or  I'll  miss  my  guess.  Nothing  like 
it,"  and  Reddy  Fox  smacked  his  lips  in  anticipation. 

"I  know  pig  is  good  to  eat,  because  I  cleaned  up 


JIM  CROW  143 

some  of  the  ones  you  killed  last  week  over  at  Farmer 
Johnson's.  You  killed  more  than  you  could  eat  and 
I  found  them  the  next  day,  so  I  cleaned  up  the  re- 
mains. Folks  don't  give  me  credit  for  a  lot  of  things 
that  I  do,  but  if  it  wasn't  for  Old  Man  Buzzard  and 
me  to  take  care  of  the  dead  animals  and  birds  that 
the  people  neglect  to  burn  or  bury,  the  country  would 
be  unfit  to  live  in.  We  are  busy  all  the  time  now, 
since  the  automobiles  are  so  numerous.  You  see 
Peter  Rabbit  and  his  relatives  like  to  play  in  the 
roads  at  night,  and  the  bright  lights  of  the  ma- 
chines blind  them;  consequently  every  morning 
along  some  of  these  roads  we  find  a  dead  rabbit  to 
take  care  of,  and  if  it  wasn't  for  the  crow  family,  it 
wouldn't  be  done. 

"Now  we  don't  eat  many  eggs.  Just  once  in  a 
while  we  like  a  change,  just  the  same  as  you  do, 
but  we  do  eat  a  lot  of  corn  during  the  year.  Thirty- 
eight  per  cent  of  our  yearly  food  is  corn  and  we 
don't  care  who  knows  it.  For  the  good  we  do  in 
killing  bugs  and  worms  the  farmer  can  afford  to  give 
us  our  corn.  Why,  bless  me,  Reddy,  I  eat  every  year 
enough  grasshoppers  and  May  beetles  to  destroy  an 
entire  crop.  I  have  eaten  many  days  over  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  grasshoppers  and  in  April  I  have  eaten 
a  hundred  May  beetles  in  a  day.  You  may  not 


144         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

know  it,  but  nineteen  per  cent  of  my  yearly  diet  is 
May  beetles,  ground  beetles,  grasshoppers,  cater- 
pillars, and  other  insects;  nine  per  cent  is  carrion 
and  other  animal  matter;  thirteen  per  cent  is  other 
grains  besides  corn;  seventeen  per  cent  is  wild  fruits, 
with  a  small  amount  of  fruit  from  Farmer  Good's 
orchard  which  he  doesn't  miss;  and  then  four  per 
cent  is  weed  seed  and  rubbish.  If  it  wasn't  for  us 
the  grub  worms,  cut  worms,  and  wire  worms  would 
eat  all  the  corn  in  the  country.  Now  I  am  not 
bragging,  but  Killer  the  hawk  got  me  riled  up,  and 
I  thought  perhaps  you  might  like  to  know  more 
about  me,"  concluded  Jim  Crow. 

Reddy  was  by  this  time  nearly  asleep.  He  never 
did  like  statistics,  so  he  gave  one  big  yawn,  stretched 
himself,  and  started  off,  but  before  leaving  he  an- 
swered: "Well,  I  was  brought  into  the  world,  and 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  so  someone  owes  me  a 
living,  and  I  am  going  to  get  it  where  it  comes  easi- 
est. Everyone  knows  I  like  chicken,  so  if  they  don't 
want  to  lose  them,  then  let  them  lock  them  up.  So 
long,  Jim.  Don't  make  yourself  sick  on  eggs.  Get- 
ting a  little  late  in  the  season,  you  know.  As  Killer 
the  hawk  said,  'Be  a  gentleman.'  Quit  before  you 
get  too  much,"  and  Reddy  went  trotting  off  across 
the  fields,  chuckling  and  smiling  to  himself,  thinking 


JIM  CROW  145 

how  Jim  Crow  had  been  trying  to  square  himself 
with  him,  whe.n  he  knew  very  well  that  he  would  do 
anything  evil  if  the  opportunity  presented  itself. 

However,  Jim  and  his  family  were  not  all  bad,  as 
during  the  month  of  May  a  fourth  of  his  food  con- 
sisted of  May  beetles  which  he  had  killed  on  the  big 
farm,  and  which  would  have  destroyed  thousands  of 
grain  plants.  Then  in  June  he  ate  caterpillars,  get- 
ting himself  ready  for  July,  August,  and  September 
when  he  ate  grasshoppers  by  the  thousands,  in 
fact  twenty  per  cent  of  his  diet  was  grasshoppers. 
He  taught  the  youngsters  how  to  catch  these  insects 
and  the  family  did  a  great  work  by  devouring 
the  bug,  which  would  have  otherwise  been  most 
harmful  to  the  crops,  so  that  in  the  months  from 
October  to  January,  Jim  Crow  felt  that  he  was  en- 
titled to  take  toll  of  the  corn  crop  for  helping  pro- 
duce it. 

One  evening  in  August  Jim  thought  it  wise  to  in- 
troduce his  family  into  society,  as  did  other  parents 
of  the  community,  so  they  called  a  great  meeting 
one  afternoon  and  arranged  that  they  would  all  meet 
the  next  evening,  several  miles  to  the  west  of  the 
big  farm,  in  a  dense  grove  of  trees  which  bordered 
the  stream  that  ran  through  that  part  of  the  country. 
So  the  next  day,  as  the  great  red  sun  was  slowly 


146          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

sinking  behind  the  grove  of  trees  in  the  west,  and 
with  its  crimson  glow  was  illuminating  the  fleecy 
clouds  overhead,  great  flocks  of  crows  could  be  seen 
lazily  and  quietly  winging  their  way  from  every  di- 
rection— all  with  one  idea,  all  going  to  the  big  party. 
And  what  a  time  they  had  when  they  arrived! 
Such  a  noise !  Every  one  of  the  oldtimers  was  tickled 
to  death  to  see  each  other  and  then  there  was  the 
noise  of  introducing  their  children  to  their  friends' 
children.  They  stayed  at  the  party  all  night  and 
had  such  a  good  time  that  it  was  repeated  the  next 
night  and  the  next,  until  it  became  a  habit,  so  that 
the  grove  became  known  to  everyone  as  a  great  crow 
roost.  Here  the  crows  sat  in  the  trees  night  after 
night  and  had  party  after  party  which  resulted  in 
making  new  acquaintances,  and  here  the  young  fel- 
lows selected  their  brides  for  the  coming  year.  How- 
ever, the  people  on  the  big  farm  are  as  yet  unde- 
cided as  to  whether  Jim  Crow  is  a  benefactor  or  a 
pest.  His  good  qualities  are  nearly  overbalanced 
by  his  criminal  acts,  but  everyone  hopes  that  some 
day  he  will  follow  the  advice  of  Killer  the  hawk 
and  "become  a  gentleman." 


o 


»* :-  * 


~      M   v 

*?        ^x    ^-  * 

:f  ~v'.  'N~< 
4  -,  r«- 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE 


ri^HE  great  red  sun  was  slowly  sinking  into  the 
golden  sea  of  a  waving  field  of  wheat,  that 
stretched  to  the  west  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
The  lazy  wind  of  that  gorgeous  June  evening  was  rip- 
pling the  surface  of  the  great  field  of  grain,  as  a  beau- 
tiful lake  shimmers  in  the  sunlight  when  caressed  by 
the  mountain  breezes,  as  they  play  hide  and  seek 
amid  the  rushes  and  reeds  which  border  its  mirror- 
like  surface,  hidden  away  in  a  forest  wilderness.  The 
vivid  green  of  the  growing  wheat  was  slowly  and 
gradually  changing  to  a  brilliant  yellow,  which  at  a 
distance  impressed  the  imaginative  mind  as  a  sea 
of  molten  gold.  To  the  casual  observer  it  was  a 
perfect  product  —  a  satisfactory  consummation  of 
intelligent  seed  selection,  soil  management,  soil  fer- 
tilization, and  scientific  farming.  The  big  farm  had 
had  many  such  prospects  in  the  years  gone  by,  and 
invariably  something  seemed  to  happen  just  at  this 
stage  of  the  crop  which  injured  the  grain  in  various 
ways,  causing  disappointment  to  the  farmer,  who 
had  made  a  supreme  effort  for  a  great  production. 

147 


148          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

This  year,  however,  everything  seemed  so  favor- 
able that  there  appeared  no  possibility  that  any  in- 
jury could  occur.  The  weather  had  been  ideal.  The 
warm  days  of  the  preceding  week  had  been  followed 
that  morning  by  a  gentle  rain,  which  had  trickled 
down  through  the  mellow  soil  to  the  tiny  rootlets 
of  the  growing  plants,  and  this  evening  the  steaming 
ground  was  radiating  life  and  energy.  This  condi- 
tion was  most  desirable  for  successful  growth  and 
development,  not  only  for  all  plants  but  also  for  all 
kinds  of  organisms  as  well,  and  this  evening  if  a 
careful  search  had  been  made  among  the  plants 
a  certain  fungus  disease  could  have  been  noted  mak- 
ing a  most  rapid  development.  The  organism  re- 
sponsible for  this  condition  is  the  subject  of  our 
sketch. 

"I  say!  What  is  the  matter?  Why  so  quiet?" 
inquired  a  fine  healthy  wheat  plant  of  an  adjoining 
brother,  apparently  healthy  and  in  fine  condition, 
who  had  taken  on  a  rather  dejected  appearance  dur- 
ing the  afternoon,  and  had  been  very  quiet.  Even 
the  rollicking  breeze,  as  it  swayed  the  heads  of  wheat 
to  and  fro,  had  failed  to  generate  any  enthusiasm. 
"Well,  I  just  can't  tell  what  is  the  matter.  I  really 
haven't  any  apparent  cause  for  worry,  but  there 
seems  to  be  something  internal  which  is  causing 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    149 

anxiety.  I  have  an  intuition  that  there  is  something 
wrong,  that  something  sinister  has  taken  hold  of  me, 
and  that  I  am  doomed/'  answered  the  wheat  plant 
that  had  been  so  quiet  all  day. 

All  this  time  there  was  something  very  much 
wrong  with  the  wheat  plant,  and  as  this  conversa- 
tion was  being  carried  on  the  villain  was  gleefully 
chuckling  to  himself  as  he  slowly  but  surely  made 
his  way  up  the  food  canals  of  the  doomed  wheat 
plant.  The  villain  was  a  five-celled  organism,  a 
crescent-shaped  spore,  known  as  Fusarium.  He  is 
so  small  that  millions  can  be  placed  together  on  the 
point  of  a  knife,  and  it  requires  the  strongest  micro- 
scope even  to  detect  his  presence. 

He  had  passed  the  winter  in  an  old  husk  of  corn 
which  had  in  it  a  decayed  ear  of  corn  of  the  previous 
crop.  This  ear  of  corn  had  lost  its  life  through  the 
activities  of  the  villain,  and  had  therefore  been  re- 
jected as  food  for  man  or  beast.  Not  only  had  the 
warm  days  followed  by  the  warm  showers  induced 
the  rapid  growth  and  development  of  the  young 
spores,  but  the  falling  rain  had  loosened  them  from 
the  old  husk  of  corn  and  washed  them  into  the  soil, 
where  they  were  taken  up  by  the  plant  rootlets  as 
they  gathered  their  evening  food  supply  from  the 
warm  earth.  The  gentle  breeze  also  caught  up 


150         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

other  spores  from  the  old  husk,  which  settled  on 
the  blooming  spikelets  of  the  wheat  plants,  and 
found  lodgment  there.  Here  they  proceeded  to  de- 
velop and  grow  and  to  make  ready  for  the  attack 
which  would  follow  soon.  About  this  time  the  big 
prairie  chicken  rooster  dropped  down  in  the  wheat 
field  and,  in  scratching  around  for  worms  and  bugs, 
he  kicked  over  the  old  husk  of  corn  and  scattered 
millions  of  the  newly  developed  spores,  which  were 
caught  up  by  the  wind  and  carried  all  over  the  wheat 
field,  finally  to  come  to  rest  on  the  young  heads  of 
wheat  now  in  full  bloom. 

Under  the  favorable  conditions  of  the  weather,  the 
spores  grew  very  rapidly,  and  the  young  wheat  heads 
began  to  develop  a  pinkish  mold  that  soon  enveloped 
each  glume  and  spikelet.  Our  strong  and  healthy 
wheat  plant,  which  had  kept  in  conversation  with 
its  neighbor,  noticed  the  failing  strength  of  the  in- 
fected brother,  and  as  the  pink  mold  developed  fur- 
ther over  the  wheat  head,  the  conversation  finally 
ceased  altogether.  The  pinkish  mold  spread  in  suc- 
cession from  one  kernel  to  another,  until  all  the 
kernels  on  this  head  of  wheat  were  infected.  Thus 
the  kernels  were  soon  absorbed  by  the  fungi,  and  the 
total  destruction  of  millions  of  heads  of  wheat  was 
the  result.  When  the  owner  of  the  big  field  again 


1 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    151 

looked  over  his  prospect  he  found  a  condition  he 
had  never  seen  before,  at  least  one  that  had  been 
overlooked  in  previous  years. 

"That  is  the  most  discouraging  thing  I  ever  saw," 
said  the  owner,  as  he  took  some  of  the  infected 
wheat  heads  and  put  them  in  his  pockets  for  further 
examination,  "To  raise  a  beautiful  crop  of  wheat 
and  then  have  it  destroyed  in  a  manner  that  defies 
any  defense  is  most  disheartening.  Still,  there  must 
be  a  defense  and  prevention  for  this  thing,  and  if 
there  is,  it  must  be  found,'7  concluded  the  owner, 
none  other  than  Farmer  Good,  who  was  now  thor- 
oughly aroused  and  had  his  fighting  spirit  up.  Ar- 
riving at  his  home,  he  took  the  infected  wheat  heads 
from  his  pockets  and  prepared  from  them  several 
glass  slides  for  his  high  powered  microscope,  and 
upon  studying  these  carefully,  he  noted  the  crescent- 
shaped  five-celled  spore  which  made  up  the  mass  of 
pink  mold  on  the  kernels. 

"There  is  the  fellow  that  is  causing  all  the  dam- 
age," said  Farmer  Good,  "but  how  to  stop  him  is 
the  next  question.  I  wonder  where  he  comes  from 
and  how  he  lives  through  the  winter,  and  on  what 
crop  he  worked  before  this  wheat  was  sown  hi  this 
field/'  mused  the  farmer,  as  he  left  the  house  to  walk 
over  to  a  nearby  pasture  to  look  after  some  cattle. 


152         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

In  passing  the  garden  he  threw  the  remaining  in- 
fected wheat  heads  down  near  the  garden  gate,  and 
a  few  minutes  later  Scrappy,  the  English  sparrow, 
discovering  the  wheat  heads,  pounced  on  them  and 
began  tearing  them  apart,  eating  the  kernels  and 
scattering  the  villainous  spores  in  every  direction 
over  the  garden. 

"Ho!  Ho!  That's  a  good  one  on  Farmer  Good! 
I  thought  I  was  a  goner  when  he  brought  me  into 
the  house,  but  here  I  am  right  in  luck,"  exclaimed 
the  villain,  as  he  settled  himself  down  between  the 
warm  moist  leaves  of  the  young  cabbage,  while 
other  spores  found  an  equally  attractive  place 
among  the  leaves  of  the  head  lettuce.  Here  they 
proceeded  to  multiply,  and  consequently  they  at- 
tacked these  plants,  so  that  in  a  few  days  the  head  of 
lettuce  took  on  a  wilted  appearance  and  finally  the 
stalk  turned  black  at  the  base,  with  the  result  that 
the  head  of  lettuce  was  worthless  for  food  or  sale. 
The  villain  that  found  himself  blown  on  the  cab- 
bage found  harder  work,  as  cabbage  was  more  re- 
sistant and  it  took  weeks  for  him  to  make  any  im- 
pression, so  that  he  finally  had  to  go  down  in  the 
stalk  at  the  root  crown,  before  he  began  to  get  re- 
sults. However,  he  was  able  after  some  time,  with 
the  help  of  all  his  children  and  his  relatives,  first 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    153 

to  make  the  cabbage  look  decidedly  wilted,  then 
to  turn  the  leaves  yellow  and  black  at  the  juncture 
with  the  stalk,  and  finally  to  make  the  stalk  so  de- 
cayed at  the  ground  that  it  fell  over  one  evening, 
unable  to  combat  the  unequal  odds. 

As  it  did  so,  Cock  Robin  flew  down  and  picked  up 
a  big  cabbage  worm  which  had  just  abandoned  ship, 
and  as  he  hopped  over  under  the  shade  of  the  to- 
mato vines,  one  of  the  villains  went  along,  dropping 
off  to  wreak  destruction  on  the  tomato  vines  as  he 
had  done  on  the  lettuce  and  cabbage.  Here  he  did 
his  work  equally  well,  and  in  a  few  weeks'  time  many 
of  the  tomatoes  were  in  a  decided  state  of  collapse — 
so  much  so  that  Farmer  Good  decided  to  pull  up  and 
remove  all  the  diseased  plants  of  all  kinds.  But,  in- 
stead of  burning  the  decayed  vegetation,  he  had  it 
thrown  over  in  an  oat  stubble  field,  which  was  being 
plowed  for  the  following  corn  crop.  Here  the  vil- 
lain and  his  companions  wintered  through  until  the 
spring,  when  the  corn  crop  was  planted. 

"Come  on,  fellows!  Hurry  up!  Here  is  where 
we  get  to  work  again,"  exclaimed  the  villain  as  he 
awakened  his  companions  on  a  nice  morning  in  May. 
"The  ground  is  full  of  young  and  tender  corn  roots, 
just  the  thing  to  keep  us  alive  and  make  us  prosper- 
ous all  the  rest  of  the  summer,"  continued  the  rascal 


154         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

as  he  found  himself  taken  up  by  the  root  hairs  of  the 
tiny  rootlets  of  the  corn  plant,  and  he  chuckled  to 
himself  as  he  thought  of  the  joke  he  was  now  playing 
on  Farmer  Good. 

However,  Farmer  Good  had  been  thinking  all  win- 
ter. In  all  the  literature  of  experiment  stations  and 
colleges  of  agriculture  he  could  discover  no  solution 
of  the  problem,  so  he  determined  to  find  out  for 
himself  what  was  causing  all  the  trouble,  and  what 
the  cure  for  it  was,  if  possible.  One  day  in  March 
he  was  inspecting  the  seed  corn  which  was  being 
germinated  in  the  seed  house.  This  corn  that 
would  be  used  for  planting  the  fields  of  the  big 
farm  had  had  ten  kernels  removed  from  each 
ear,  and  placed  in  the  germinator  containing  warm, 
damp  sawdust,  kept  at  a  constant  temperature  of 
eighty  degrees.  Here  the  kernels  that  were  from 
perfect  ears  germinated  and  produced  the  young 
plant  and  roots.  This  March  morning,  while  Farmer 
Good  was  looking  over  the  different  sets  of  kernels, 
he  noted  a  few  kernels  which  had  germinated  well 
but  at  the  same  time  were  covered  with  mold 
— some  with  a  spider-web  type,  others  with  a  white 
cotton-like  mold,  another  of  a  dark  slate  color,  and 
others  of  a  pink  color  which  at  once  attracted  his  at- 
tention. 


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ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    155 

"Where  have  I  seen  that  same  thing  before?"  ex- 
claimed Farmer  Good  aloud.  "I've  seen  it  just  as 
sure  as  I  live,  and  I  believe  I  am  on  a  hot  trail.  I 
wonder  what  the  microscope  would  show  here,"  he 
asked  of  himself  as  he  took  some  of  the  moldy  ker- 
nels and  started  for  the  house.  There  he  prepared 
the  slides  and,  carefully  adjusting  the  powerful  mi- 
croscope, he  took  one  glance  through  the  instrument 
and,  with  a  cry  that  brought  everyone  hi  the  house 
to  him,  he  exclaimed: 

"Ah !  Now  I  know  you,  you  villain !  You  are  the 
same  fellow  I  found  in  my  spring  wheat — the  same 
pink  mold.  I  knew  I  had  seen  you  before.  Now  I 
know  how  you  got  into  the  spring  wheat.  You  lived 
over  on  the  old  ears  of  corn  left  in  the  field.  I  won- 
der where  else  you  wintered  and  in  what  state  you 
existed.  There  must  be  a  winter  spore  somewhere, 
from  which  this  pink  mold  has  developed,  and  if  I 
can  find  that  fellow  I  can  then  maks  the  entire  con- 
nection." 

He  went  at  once  to  the  corn  field,  where  the  old 
weather-beaten  corn  stalks  were  still  hi  the  field. 
He  collected  several  husks,  decayed  ears  of  corn, 
leaves,  and  stalks,  then  brought  the  entire  collection 
into  his  seed  house.  Here  he  made  a  careful  search 
of  every  part  of  the  old  plants,  and  noted  that  some 


156          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

of  the  stalks  were  clean  and  bright,  while  others  were 
darkened  in  spots,  especially  just  below  the  nodes 
or  joints.  These  dark  spots  resembled  soot  from  a 
chimney  and  could  easily  be  scraped  off  with  the 
aid  of  a  knife.  From  these  he  made  cultures  which 
soon  developed  the  pink  mold  and  again  in  looking 
through  the  microscope  he  found  the  same  crescent- 
shaped  villain  which  he  had  found  in  the  corn  kernel 
and  the  spring  wheat  head.  Then  he  took  the  de- 
cayed kernels  from  the  old  ears  of  corn  he  found  in 
the  field,  also  portions  of  the  darkened  spots  of  the 
interior  of  the  corn  stalks,  and  having  made  cultures 
of  these,  he  developed  the  same  molds  as  were  shown 
on  the  kernels  in  the  germinator,  carrying  the  same 
villainous  spores. 

"Well,  at  last  I  have  established  your  true  line  of 
relation,  you  renegade,  but  if  you  are  able  to  de- 
stroy some  plants,  why  is  it  that  you  have  no  effect 
on  others?  I  wonder  if  it  is  because  you  do  not  hap- 
pen to  come  in  contact  with  them,  or  is  it  that  they 
are  able  to  resist  you?  I  remember  some  of  the 
kernels  in  the  germinator  were  badly  infected,  while 
adjoining  ones  were  not  affected  at  all.  However, 
there  is  one  thing  lacking  in  the  chain  of  circum- 
stantial evidence :  How  did  that  fellow  secrete  him- 
self on  that  kernel  of  corn  in  the  germinator?  We 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    157 

must  be  able  to  determine  that,  or  the  corn  will  be 
ruined  after  it  is  planted  in  the  ground.  There  is 
only  one  thing  to  do :  Run  another  test  of  these  dis- 
eased ears  through  the  germinator,  and  treat  the 
kernels  in  various  ways  before  placing  them  in  the 
germinator,  in  order  to  determine  where  that  villain 
is  in  hiding." 

Again  selecting  the  ears  which  were  badly  infected, 
he  took  ten  kernels  from  one  and  subjected  them  to 
boiling  water  for  a  moment.  Another  set  he  used  a 
flame  on,  to  destroy  any  spores  on  the  surface;  for 
another  set  he  used  sulphur  fumes,  while  on  other 
sets  he  dropped  the  kernels  in  acids  of  various  kinds. 
Then  all  these  kernels  with  the  various  treatments 
were  placed  in  the  germinator,  and  in  a  few  days  the 
same  pink  mold  began  to  develop. 

"Well,  the  trouble  is  not  on  the  outside  of  the  ker- 
nel, it  is  on  the  inside,"  Farmer  Good  thoughtfully 
commented  to  himself,  "and  it  is  evidently  more 
work  for  the  microscope." 

Next,  taking  some  of  the  diseased  kernels,  he  cut 
them  in  cross  section  with  a  sharp  knife,  and  noted 
the  diseased  series  of  starchy  cells  called  the  scutel- 
lum,  surrounding  the  embryo,  or  germ  of  the  kernel. 
He  made  some  very  thin  cross  section  slides  for  the 
microscope  of  this  portion  of  the  kernel,  and  after 


158         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

properly  preparing  them  for  observation  he  took  a 
long  look  through  the  powerful  lens.  What  he  saw 
there  made  him  shudder  to  think  what  the  conse- 
quences to  the  corn  crop  of  the  Nation  would  be  if 
this  disease  was  not  stopped.  The  magnitude  of  the 
task  was  also  apparent,  as  to  attempt  to  destroy  the 
disease  was  also  to  destroy  the  life  of  the  kernel. 
What  he  saw  through  the  eye-piece  of  the  instru- 
ment gave  him  some  idea  of  the  fight  ahead,  as  in  the 
decayed  part  of  the  kernel,  surrounding  the  germ  or 
embryo,  the  heart  and  life  of  the  corn,  were  to  be 
seen  hundreds  of  the  Fusarium  spores,  which  were 
quietly  but  surely  causing  the  destruction  of  the 
kernel,  as  they  also  had  attacked  the  plumule  and 
rootlets. 

"Well,  that  is  getting  him  located  all  right,  but 
what  can  be  done?  The  moisture  and  heat  neces- 
sary to  germinate  the  kernels  in  the  soil  at  the  time 
of  planting  will  also  bring  to  life  these  dormant 
spores,  which  will  then  destroy  the  kernels.  I  won- 
der if  some  of  the  healthy  ears  of  corn  do  not  have 
these  spores,  as  well  as  the  more  unfortunate  ones, 
but  some  of  them  are  more  resistant  than  others. 
This  appears  to  be  the  only  conclusion,  especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  these  spores  are  carried  over 
from  one  season  to  another  within  the  kernel  itself. 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    159 

Young  fellow,  I  believe  it  possible  to  create  strains 
of  plants  which  will  be  able  to  resist  your  attacks, 
and  I  surely  am  going  to  try  to  create  such  vari- 
eties," soliloquized  Farmer  Good  as  he  sat  there 
before  his  microscope,  mapping  out  his  campaign  of 
work  for  the  coming  year,  which  was  eventually  to 
revolutionize  the  work  of  grain  production. 

However,  all  this  time  the  villain  was  likewise 
making  use  of  his  opportunities.  As  the  infected 
wheat  straw  was  scattered  in  the  winter  over  the 
gardens,  the  villain  made  ready  to  attack  any  vege- 
table that  might  be  planted  in  the  spring,  and  when 
the  straw  was  put  over  the  flower  beds  he  at  once 
attacked  the  chrysanthemum  plants,  so  that  the 
stems  became  weakened,  and  later  on  broke  over, 
causing  the  destruction  of  the  blooms.  Also,  when 
the  straw  was  scattered  over  the  fields  as  fertilizer 
to  be  plowed  under,  the  spores  were  again  placed  hi 
position  to  do  the  most  harm  to  the  following  crop. 

As  the  winter  days  wore  on  and  the  welcome  days 
of  spring  arrived,  Farmer  Good  had  completed  his 
program.  He  was  going  to  plant  several  rows  of 
corn  from  seed  that  showed  no  disease  or  infection, 
and  alongside  in  alternating  rows  he  intended  to 
plant  seed  which  showed  infection  in  varying  stages, 
while  during  the  summer  he  would  take  many  ob- 


160         THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

servations.  One  beautiful  warm  day  in  May  he 
planted  in  each  row  the  seed  from  one  ear  of  corn 
only.  Some  rows  were  from  diseased  ears,  while 
other  rows  were  planted  with  seed  from  disease- 
free  ears,  as  shown  at  the  time  of  germinating  the 
kernels  in  the  seed  house.  He  did  not  have  long  to 
wait  in  order  to  ascertain  the  results.  The  disease- 
free  seed  sent  up  the  young  plants  quite  early,  a 
very  vigorous  plant  with  a  most  healthy  color,  while 
the  diseased  rows  showed  plants  with  poor  color, 
weak  germination  and  growth,  with  many  plants1  dy- 
ing early,  also  many  plants  with  a  grass-like  appear- 
ance. As  the  season  advanced  the  diseased  rows  de- 
veloped many  red  and  purple  stalks  and  leaves,  with 
no  ears  on  the  stalks  whatever,  also  many  barren 
stalks  which  were  normal  as  to  color.  Then  quite  a 
percentage  of  the  stalks  of  the  diseased  rows  would 
break  over. 

This  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Farmer  Good 
very  forcibly.  One  day  when  some  of  his  friends 
were  in  the  field  inspecting  the  work,  one  of  the  men 
admitted  that  he  was  quite  skeptical,  and  couldn't 
believe  all  that  had  been  told  him  about  this  new 
work.  He  had  just  said  that  he  did  not  believe  that 
a  small  spore  or  organism  could  cause  all  this  trouble, 
when  directly  in  front  of  him,  as  if  to  impress  upon 


Three  diseased  and  two  healthy  stalks  of  growing  corn, 
eased  stalks  with  root  system  destroyed. 


Dis- 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    161 

his  mind  the  fallacy  of  his  statement,  a  large  fine 
stalk  with  a  good  ear  of  corn  attached  fell  over, 
breaking  about  two  feet  from  the  ground,  and  just 
barely  touching  the  man  as  it  fell.  As  there  was  not 
the  semblance  of  a  wind,  or  even  a  breeze,  the  falling 
of  the  stalk  at  once  attracted  the  attention  of  every- 
one present. 

"There,  now,  is  a  wonderful  example  of  what  it 
can  do,"  exclaimed  Farmer  Good.  "We  will  now  ex- 
amine that  stalk  and  prove  to  you  just  what  hap- 
pened." 

So,  taking  his  knife,  he  split  the  stalk  its  entire 
length,  and  showed  the  blackened  and  purple  dis- 
eased spots  in  the  fibrous  structure,  extending  the 
entire  length  of  the  stalk.  At  the  place  of  the  break, 
it  was  weakened  to  a  greater  degree  by  a  more  severe 
diseased  condition.  When  the  stalk  was  pulled  from 
the  ground,  it  was  found  that  most  of  the  roots  were 
badly  decayed,  making  it  impossible  for  them  to  per- 
form their  function  of  collecting  plant  food  from  the 
soil  and  transmitting  it  to  the  plant,  and,  since  the 
plant  was  not  properly  nourished,  it  was  more  sus- 
ceptible to  the  attacks  of  the  disease. 

"Now  my  theory  is  this,"  began  Farmer  Good.  "If 
we  can  improve  our  plants  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  will  be  properly  constructed  and  abundantly 


162          THE  ROMANCE  OF  EVERIFARM 

able  to  nourish  themselves,  and  if  by  proper  breed- 
ing we  eliminate  the  undesirable  qualities  of  the 
plants,  improving  the  more  desirable  qualities 
through  cross-breeding,  we  shall  then  be  able  to 
establish  disease-resistant  strains  of  our  great  agri- 
cultural grains  and  thereby  eradicate  many  of  our 
worst  diseases. 

"We  have  now  proved  that  the  old  corn  stalks  are 
a  rank  source  of  infection  to  the  following  crop  of 
spring  wheat,  or  to  the  corn  crop  if  the  field  is  again 
planted  to  corn.  Therefore,  it  seems  desirable  that 
we  should  sacrifice  some  of  the  fertilizer  found  in  the 
stalks  when  plowed  under,  in  order  to  eradicate  the 
disease  more  quickly.  So  when  we  plant  either  corn 
or  spring  wheat  following  corn,  the  ground  should 
either  be  plowed  early  in  the  fall,  as  soon  as  the 
corn  is  harvested,  or  the  stalks  should  be  destroyed 
by  burning  in  the  spring. 

"Then,  of  course,  we  must  make  a  most  rigid  test 
in  germinating  the  seed  corn  and  plant  only  the 
seed  which  is  disease-resistant  or  disease-free.  Also, 
the  infected  wheat  straw  should  never  be  returned 
to  the  fields  as  fertilizer  or  protection  to  other  crops, 
as  it  only  aids  in  distributing  the  disease  further  over 
the  farms. 

"Now,  after  working  with  plants  as  many  years  as 


ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  FUSARIUM  SPORE    163 

I  have,  and  noticing  the  effect  of  care,  treatment,  and 
proper  nourishment  on  increased  production  and  the 
better  quality  of  the  resulting  product,  I  am  more 
convinced  than  ever  of  the  great  field  for  improve- 
ment that  we  have  in  creating  better  citizens  for 
our  country,  by  using  the  same  careful  methods  with 
our  children  as  we  do  with  our  plants.  If  the  moth- 
ers and  fathers  of  America  would  exercise  the  same 
care  in  bringing  their  children  into  the  world  and  in 
their  development  that  they  do  in  growing  their 
pigs,  horses,  cattle  and  plants,  the  Nation  could  be 
most  wonderfully  advanced  within  two  generations, 
and  some  day  I  hope  that  through  such  work  as  this 
the  people  of  our  country  will  realize  these  great 
possibilities." 


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